The Functional Government Initiative (FGI) recently obtained internal documents, via the Freedom of Information Act, from the Department of Energy (DOE) that contained predictions for U.S. gas prices. The DOE’s memo, which was heavily redacted, predicted a decline in gas prices before SPR resources were released to the market. These predictions were shared with the Biden administration two weeks prior to the decision to release 50 million barrels of oil on Nov. 23, 2021.

The heavily redacted memo showed that DOE officials believed that retail gas prices would drop within the first quarter of 2022 and potentially decline further into the second quarter. The report in the memo also included an estimated retail price drop tied to a per barrel release from the SPR. The FGI reported in a press release that they believe the Biden administration knew these estimated price drops were unrelated to the SPR’s supply at the time and decided to release what would amount to over 200 million barrels of oil to "maximize political gain."

“The decision by the Biden administration to drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, absent a clear emergency and armed with the expectation of several quarters of falling retail gas prices, raises many questions about the legality and political nature of the decision-making,” Peter McGinnis, spokesman for Functional Government Initiative, said in a statement. “The timing and existence of the memo obtained by FGI only enhances the public’s concern that political motives may have played a role. In light of the economics of having to re-stock the reserves at today’s higher prices, the many SPR releases also appear to represent an extremely costly political contribution for the American taxpayer. This is the precise type of dysfunction the administration’s so-called ‘return to normalcy’ was supposed to avoid.”

The FGI press release did recognize that the heavily redacted memo did not show the details of the projections, or further elaboration on the thought process to release 50 million barrels, whether it be to reduce gas prices to Trump-era levels or to take credit for an already projected decline in gas prices.

“Gas prices are down 10 cents nationally, and some states across the country are seeing gas prices at pre-pandemic averages. This will help so many Americans who are traveling this week,” President Joe Biden wrote in a Dec. 23 Twitter post. 

Yahoo Finance reported in mid-January that the Biden administration had stopped drawing crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s stockpile. Prior to the administration’s draws, SPR inventory levels were at just under 600 million and now currently at 371.6 million. SPR inventories have not been this low since December 1983.

One of the issues Biden campaigned on was the restriction of domestic oil and the need for the United States to expedite the process of transferring over to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. During one of the presidential debates against incumbent Donald Trump, Biden said that he would “transition from the oil industry” giving the reason that the “oil industry pollutes.”