Biden Sabotaged U.S. Oil Reserve, Will Remain Bone Dry
The Biden administration depleted the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve significantly to gain favor for the 2022 midterm elections. Recently, they announced a delay in refilling the critical supply.
Last year, Biden ordered the release of one million barrels of oil per day from the reserve to make America a safeguard against global gas price increases resulting from the Ukraine war and other factors.
Even though U.S. gas prices reached record highs, over five million barrels from America's SPR were exported to Europe and Asia. Additionally, a subsidiary of a state-owned Chinese gas company, in which Hunter Biden's private equity firm had a $1.7 billion stake, purchased one million barrels from the U.S.
According to a White House fact sheet, the Biden administration released 180 million barrels, leaving America's emergency oil stockpile at its lowest level in nearly 40 years.
In early 2023, Biden's Energy Department announced its plan to refill the SPR, aiming for 6.3 million barrels by November of that year. The Biden officials estimated an average cost of $72.67 per barrel, three times higher than the price negotiated by the Trump administration.
However, the U.S. decided not to repurchase oil for the emergency supply due to tight oil prices causing global prices to exceed $80 per barrel, which the Energy Department spokesperson described as "market conditions."
The spokesperson assured that the Department remained committed to its replenishment strategy for the SPR, including direct purchases at favorable prices, exchange returns, and canceling planned sales when drawdown is unnecessary, all in coordination with Congress.
While some critics view Biden's move to drain the SPR as a purely political maneuver, others suggest that foreign oil producers are manipulating prices to thwart Biden's attempts to refill the SPR at the desired price set by the administration.
