KJP Stumbles Explaining Why Biden Abandoned Plan To Refill Oil Reserves

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled to come up with a good explanation as to why President Joe Biden has failed to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as he promised.

During a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy brought up Biden’s promise to refill the SFR, which he said he was draining to compensate for the increase in gas prices.

“First, the — so, you guys started draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try and help with ‘the Putin Price Hike’ a few years ago. Said you were going to refill it. But now it doesn’t seem like that’s happening. Why?” Doocy asked.

Jean-Pierre staggered through a response, suggesting that it is up to the Department of Energy. She also claimed that the issue should not be about whether or not the SPR would be refilled but about how it would be done.

“Well, from — I believe the Department of Energy is — is responsible for — for that particular component — is refilling — refilling that, so I would refer to the Department of Energy. I know there are certain components to that and how they were going to move forward and refilling — refilling it. Uh — I — they would have had more specifics on that for you,” she stated.

DOOCY TIME: “First, the — so, you guys started draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try and help with ‘the Putin Price Hike’ a few years ago. Said You were going to refill it. But now it doesn't seem like that's happening. Why?”

KJP: “Well, from — I believe the Department… pic.twitter.com/K5v77241lM

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 3, 2024

Before the briefing, the news that the Biden administration would not be fulfilling its promise of refilling the SPR broke. According to the report, the high cost of oil is one of the reasons the reserve will not be refilled.

“We will not award the current solicitations for the Bayou Choctaw SPR site and will solicit available capacity as market conditions allow. We will continue to monitor market dynamics,” said the Department of Energy.

The move has received criticism from some quarters, including Power The Future, an energy advocacy organization. The organization’s founder and executive director Daniel Turner released a statement, saying, “It’s pure insanity to watch the Biden Administration cut American oil production and then claim they can’t refill our critical reserve because of the price.”

“[President] Joe Biden drained the SPR for political reasons, cut our domestic production for his climate agenda, and now he’s leaving our critical reserve more vulnerable because he’s incompetent. As a result, Americans are paying more at the pump, more at the grocery store and our SPR is less full during a time of rising turmoil in the Middle East,” Turner added.