Gas Prices Drop Amid Largest-Ever Strategic Petroleum Reserve Release

Oil prices dropped drastically on Wednesday (March 30) leading up to President Joe Biden's announcement that the White House planned to release 1 million barrels of oil daily for the next six months.

CNBC reports President Biden's plan -- which is an effort to combat the record high oil and gas prices nationwide -- is the largest strategic petroleum reserve release ever.

“The scale of this release is unprecedented: the world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million per day rate for this length of time. This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as bridge until the end of the year when domestic production ramps up,” the Biden administration said in a statement obtained by CNBC.

ClearView Energy Partners said "it is hard to overstate the scale of this intervention" in relation to the decision and acknowledged that the release was the largest by a factor of 3.6X, surpassing the 50 million barrel release in November.

Brent crude, which serves as the world's benchmark for crude oil, saw its futures fall 4.56% to $108.28 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures for May dropped to 4.7% to $102.78, according to CNBC.

The contract had previously traded as low as $100.16 at an earlier point in the session.

Gas prices nationwide reached record highs amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ensuing concerns over the amount of supplies, leading to a global rise in inflation.

Russia is the second-largest global exporter of oil and is facing is facing international sanctions following its decision to invade neighboring Ukraine last month.