WASHINGTON—The U.S. and five other countries including China will tap their national strategic petroleum reserves in an attempt to bring down gasoline prices that have become a sore spot with motorists and a big contributor to inflation, the White House said.

The release had been anticipated for weeks as the White House grappled with how to address rising prices for gasoline, groceries and other consumer products that have clouded prospects for President Biden’s agenda.

“This...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. and five other countries including China will tap their national strategic petroleum reserves in an attempt to bring down gasoline prices that have become a sore spot with motorists and a big contributor to inflation, the White House said.

The release had been anticipated for weeks as the White House grappled with how to address rising prices for gasoline, groceries and other consumer products that have clouded prospects for President Biden’s agenda.

“This a problem—not just in the United States but around the world,” Mr. Biden said of the high gas prices Tuesday afternoon. “We’re taking action.”

Wholesale crude prices on financial markets, however, rose instead of falling after Tuesday’s announcement. Mr. Biden predicted that the added supply will lead to lower prices, but analysts questioned whether government releases are big enough to cover surging demand and lead to price drops at the pump.

Even if crude prices do fall, relief for consumers may be short-lived as demand is expected to keep rising into next year as the global economy continues its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“For drivers wondering if gasoline prices will get lower … the reality is that this may not happen at all, or only with a significant lag time,” Bjørnar Tonhaugen, head of oil market research at consulting firm Rystad Energy, said in a research note.

The Biden administration said in total it would put 50 million barrels of oil from U.S. government stockpiles onto world markets in the coming weeks. Along with China, the White House said other countries participating in the release are India, Japan, South Korea and the U. K.—a group that includes the world’s four biggest oil-consuming nations.

The Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas. The U.S. will release 50 million barrels, officials said.

Photo: adrees latif/Reuters

China, like the U.S., has for weeks made an aggressive effort to bring down energy prices to deal with its own inflation. And the move is the latest of several signs of cooperation between the two world powers seeking to tamp down geopolitical tensions, including Mr. Biden’s virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

In total, the six countries are likely to put roughly 65 million to 70 million barrels from government stockpiles onto world markets, according to a tally by RBC Capital Markets.

That figure is only a little more than half of the world’s daily consumption, which the Energy Department estimates will surpass 100 million barrels in the final three months of 2021. That rate would put world consumption nearly 5% higher than it was a year ago as the recovery from the pandemic has steadily driven consumption higher.

“The sale seems more about stopping bleeding than declaring victory,” analysts at ClearView Energy Partners LLC said in a research note. “We see the timing of today’s move as a clear Biden Administration effort to send a signal to American drivers (and voters) that the White House is responsive to economic pain.”

In recent months, the White House had urged the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to increase output more than they had initially planned, contending that there wasn’t enough oil to meet demand as the global economy rebounds from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an early November meeting, OPEC and its allied Russia-led producers decided to defy that pressure, leaving White House officials to home in on tapping the reserve as their next best option.

Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.) said that Tuesday’s release “will not fix the problem” and that the Biden administration needs to focus instead on boosting domestic production.

“Begging OPEC and Russia to increase production and now using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are desperate attempts” to lower fuel prices, Mr. Barrasso said. “They’re not substitutes for American energy production.”

Senate Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) took the opposite view, calling the release “good news for American families.”

“Tapping the SPR will provide much-needed temporary relief at the pump and will signal to OPEC that they cannot recklessly manipulate supply to artificially inflate gas prices,” Mr. Schumer said.

While U.S. reserve releases have become more common in recent years, this would be the largest ever and the first release coordinated with other countries in a decade, according to the Energy Department. Prior efforts were coordinated with more European allies and sometimes through the International Energy Agency.

Rising gasoline prices have put pressure on political leaders globally.

In the U.S., Democrats are entering next year’s midterm elections—which are typically tough for the party that controls the White House—with a narrow majority in the House and a 50-50 split in the Senate.

A CBS News poll released on Sunday showed Mr. Biden’s public approval rating is at 44%, his lowest since taking office. Only 30% of Americans said the economy is good, the poll showed, down from 37% in October and 45% in July. While 53% of Americans approve of Mr. Biden’s handling of Covid-19 vaccine distribution, only 39% approve of his handling of the economy and 33% of inflation, the poll showed.

Mr. Biden noted wages are rising and disposable income has grown for many Americans.

“But we still face challenges in our economy,” he said, citing a disrupted supply chain and higher food prices. He touted steps such as a push to operate ports in California around the clock and assurances from major retailers that shelves will be stocked.

Administration officials didn’t specify when they expect consumers to see lower prices at the pump, though they noted there is usually a lag between increased oil supplies and when retail prices fall. “We expect the industry to be passing through these savings to consumers as quickly as possible,” one official said.

On Tuesday U.S. crude futures climbed 2.3% to settle at $78.50 a barrel.

The previous globally coordinated release came in 2011 when the U.S. and 27 other countries agreed to release 60 million barrels to replace some of 140 million in output lost as a result of three months of conflict in what would become Libya’s civil war.

China and South Korea haven’t made announcements confirming their participation, nor did their officials in Washington immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for the Japanese government in Washington said Japan would have an official announcement coming Wednesday. The country is expected to announce a first-ever drawdown from its strategic reserves, roughly 4.2 million barrels, or the equivalent of one to two days of the country’s daily consumption, according to the Nikkei, a leading national daily.

India said it would release five million barrels of crude—a little more than one day’s consumption—from its strategic petroleum reserve of around 38 million barrels. A U.K. spokesperson said the country would release the equivalent of 1.5 million barrels of oil, but that it would require only voluntary and not mandatory compliance from private companies there to release it.

Write to Timothy Puko at tim.puko@wsj.com and Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com