Méndez Núñez seeks PR’s inclusion in supply release from US strategic oil reserve
By The Star Staff
Rep. Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez, the minority leader for the New Progressive Party (NPP) delegation in the island House of Representatives, asked Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón on Tuesday to require the White House to allocate to Puerto Rico part of the 30 million barrels of oil from the United States Strategic Reserve released last week by President Joe Biden.
“Puerto Ricans are seeing pump prices that exceed $1.10 per liter, a figure that this generation has not experienced,” Méndez Núñez said in a written statement. “The high costs of purchasing gasoline have had a negative impact on our people, who are already suffering the ravages of the historic COVID-19 virus pandemic. Given this, action must be taken. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO by its Spanish acronym) has issued orders to freeze the profit margins of retailers, but the price continues to rise, as international events, mainly the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, have raised the price of the barrel of oil.”
Faced with this reality, Puerto Rico urgently needs to take other measures, Méndez Núñez said. One of those is that the federal government provides the island with a part of the 30 million barrels of oil that were released on March 5, according to the order issued by President Biden, the lawmaker said.
“This injection of new barrels of oil was made to cushion the prices at our nation’s pumps,” Méndez Núñez said. “Puerto Rico has to benefit too. Given this, I am asking the Resident Commissioner to ask the Biden administration to allocate a part of that released strategic reserve for immediate use in Puerto Rico.”