The US released crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address the “underlying crisis” and not the international energy price fluctuations, an adviser to President Joe Biden has said.
Amos Hochstein, US Special Presidential Co-ordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security, was speaking at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
“We didn't use [the] petroleum reserve because of price fluctuations. We used the SPR as a result of a crisis that’s causing the price difference and there’s a big difference,” said Mr Hochstein.
He said the SPR was last used when nearly two million barrels came off the market overnight during the Libya war.
A record 180 million barrels of oil were released from America’s emergency reserve over the past year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in Brent crude surging close to a 14-year high of $140 per barrel.
Last month, the US Department of Energy said it would replenish the reserves, starting with a purchase of three million barrels of crude.
“We worked together with the Congress and cancelled the mandated [SPR] releases from 2024 to 2027. That’s a significant amount of oil that the market was expecting that would be released,” said Mr Hochstein.
“We will at the same time continue to use that [SPR] in case of a crisis emergence or one that will affect consumers in the US and around the world."
The US Congress had mandated in previous laws a sale of about 147 million barrels of oil from the fiscal year 2024 to 2027.
Oil prices rose nearly 9 per cent last week amid hopes of fuel demand recovery in China, the world’s second-largest economy and top crude importer.
“We have to be prepared for higher prices and what our responses are,” said Mr Hochstein
"We have to be prepared for the reverse if prices decline to a lower level and how [we can] be opportunistic in the market.
“This is going to be a really fluid dynamic.”
A windfall profits tax on US oil companies, which have largely benefited from higher energy prices, is “not on the table” at the moment, the US energy envoy said.
Politicians in the UK and Europe have approved windfall taxes after global oil majors reported record profits last year.
Last year, the US passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which offers a series of tax incentives on wind, solar, hydropower and other renewables as well as a push towards electric vehicle ownership.
“The IRA is driving investment from around the world and inside the US,” said Mr Hochstein.
The energy official urged other countries to “follow suit” and provide incentives to their clean energy sector.
“We need to incentivise investment because on its own, it’s not going to happen. The markets will not address it and investments into transforming the global energy systems are not going to happen,” he said.
“We have to create government spending and signal to the market that we are willing to make the small dollar investment that will leverage the larger dollar investments.”
He underlined the importance of clean energy investments in developing and middle income countries for “equitable energy transition”.
Financial institutions, the private sector and governments around the world are investing “billions and trillions of dollars of commitments and pledges to invest in the energy transition”, Mr Hochstein said.
However, most of that money is being invested in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group and in developed countries.
“If you want to fight climate change, it can't be done in one group of countries and not in another,” he added.
Last year, the UAE and US signed a strategic partnership to invest $100 billion to produce 100 gigawatts of clean energy globally by 2035.
As part of the partnership, the two countries will set up an expert group to identify priority projects.
They will also seek to “bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in the investment in and deployment of clean energy to ensure global efforts to reduce emissions do not falter”, the White House said.
The UAE and US will also work together to prioritise commercial projects in developing and poor countries, as well as to support them with technical and financial assistance.
Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum — in pictures
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner: Omania, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm: Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
Winner: Brehaan, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m
Winner: Craving, Connor Beasley, Simon Crisford
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Prep (PA) Dh100,000 2,200m
Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Dahess D’Arabie, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: Fertile De Croate, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Company%20profile%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYodawy%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Egypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKarim%20Khashaba%2C%20Sherief%20El-Feky%20and%20Yasser%20AbdelGawad%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHealthTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2424.5%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlgebra%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20MEVP%20and%20Delivery%20Hero%20Ventures%2C%20among%20others%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20500%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWafeq%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJanuary%202019%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadim%20Alameddine%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Esoftware%20as%20a%20service%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERaed%20Ventures%20and%20Wamda%2C%20among%20others%3C%2Fp%3E%0A