President Joe Biden will order the release of up to 180 million barrels of oil from the nation’s emergency reserves over the next six months in a bid to provide relief to Americans from high gas prices that have soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

RELATED: Why gas prices change in the U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTsInt8_j-8

The action, which Biden will formally announce later Thursday, will represent the largest release from the reserve in its nearly 50-year history.

Gas prices at the pump have soared by nearly $1 per gallon in the month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war means less Russian oil is getting to the market, and the reduction in supply is raising prices at the pump.

Senior administration officials who briefed reporters ahead of Biden’s announcement could not say how much the release of oil from the strategic reserves is expected to lower prices at the pump or how soon prices will start to fall.

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