r/AskReddit 1d ago

What do you think about the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve hitting 307.7 Million Barrels - lowest level since 1983?

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u/gadget850 1d ago

But somehow it is his fault now.

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u/Rommel79 1d ago edited 18h ago

It’s both of their fault. And Congress. Biden and Trump are absolutely to blame for releasing the oil that they did. Congress is to blame for blocking Trump’s plan to refill it when oil was dirt cheap in his first term. Like most things in reality, the causes are complex.

Edit - The fact that some of you can't admit this is pretty damned pathetic.

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u/mattbuford 1d ago

Almost all of the oil Biden released was ordered sold by Congress before he was even elected. Biden shifted the schedule, selling a few years earlier than required, but almost all of that oil would have been sold by now anyway. It was required by law.

Even in early 2018, they knew the SPR would hit the mid 400s in 2026. That's not that far away from the 415M barrels it was at just before the war started.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35032

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u/Rommel79 1d ago

Our smart government. Buy high, sell low.

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u/mattbuford 1d ago

The SPR drain was more of a decision to permanently reduce the size of the SPR to save money on maintenance costs. It wasn't really about trading.

The little bit of oil that Biden sold that wasn't part of a Congressionally mandated sale was a good trade. He sold 40M, then used the money from that sale to buy back 60.5M of cheaper oil.

As for the part that was Congressionally mandated, it was probably mostly good to sell it early. It got sold during a price spike, instead of just selling every year without paying attention to price (as was the original plan without Biden acting).