The Biden administration, in a historic move, agreed Thursday to release 1 million b/d of oil from U.S. reserves over six months in a measure that paralleled a decision by OPEC to temper boosting crude output.

The White House said the release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) came after consulting “with allies and partners.” The “largest release of oil reserves in history would put 1 million b/d of additional supply on the market every day for the next six months,” officials said.

“The scale of this release is unprecedented,” said the Biden administration. “The world has never had a release of oil reserves at this 1 million b/d rate for this length of time. 

“This record release will provide a historic amount of supply to serve as a bridge until the...