US oil prices fell 7% to close just above $100 on Thursday, as President Joe Biden announced the largest-ever withdrawal from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and called on oil companies to increase drilling to boost supplies.
US West Texas Intermediate Gulf futures for May delivery settled down $7.54, or 7%, to $100.28 a barrel, after touching the lowest level at $99.66.
Brent crude futures for May delivery, which expired on Thursday, closed down $5.54, or 4.8%, to $107.91 a barrel.
The most active June futures contract fell 5.6% to $105.16, after falling $7 earlier in the session.
How will the oil market be affected by the release of 180 million barrels from the US strategic reserve?
The two benchmarks posted their highest quarterly percentage gains since the second quarter of 2020, with Brent up 38% and WTI up 34%, mainly boosted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 that Moscow calls a "special operation."
Biden withdrew 180 million barrels, equivalent to about two days of global demand, the third time that Washington has exploited the strategic reserve in the past six months.
The United States will withdraw 1 million barrels per day of crude oil for six months from the strategic reserve starting in May, Biden said, adding that allies and partners may additionally withdraw 30 to 50 million barrels of oil.
He added, "We need to increase supply... Oil companies with idle wells or unused lease contracts have to start production, or pay for their inaction."
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