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The U.S. Department of Energy announced the loan of 13.4 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic reserve as part of a renewed effort by the Biden administration to contain oil prices that have surged to their highest level since 2014.

Demand for oil is nearing pre-COVID levels and producers globally are investing too little in supply, Saudi Aramco said.

The Biden administration’s release of crude from U.S. emergency reserves to cool oil’s rally is going into a second round, with bids due by the first working day of the year.

Petroleos Mexicanos could end up spending about $1.6 billion to take over Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Deer Park refinery, more than twice the price announced in May, even as its finances are so dismal the government is injecting billions of dollars into the state oil producer.

OPEC and its allies will proceed with their next oil-production hike, but said they could revisit the decision at any moment as the risk to demand from the omicron variant of COVID-19 becomes clearer.

Texas’s top oil and gas regulator voted Nov. 30 to more clearly define who will be at the top of the list to keep receiving electricity during severe winter weather.

President Joe Biden on Nov. 23 ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from the nation’s strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs, in coordination with other major energy consuming nations, including China, India and the United Kingdom.

Releasing oil from the U.S. government’s strategic reserve would have a “short-lived” impact on soaring fuel prices, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

New oil and gas leasing within 10 miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park will be prohibited for the next two years as officials consider a proposal to withdraw federal land in the area from development for a 20-year period, the U.S. Department of Interior said Nov. 15.

OPEC and its allies will stick to their slow pace of oil-production increases, disregarding President Joe Biden’s demand to go faster.