U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve level 40% down from a year ago

The current U.S. strategic oil reserve is at a level of 372.28 million barrels (as of December 30, 2022).

This is down from 617.77 a year ago (October 1, 2021). That's a nearly 40 percent drop.

(source for numbers: YCharts US Crude Oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Stocks)

Forbes has an article titled "The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at its Lowest Level Since 1984 "
(by the way, the U.S. population was 29 percent lower in 1984 than it is today)

The Biden Administration drained the strategic oil reserves to try to help lower prices, and for political gain, amidst high inflation and putting sanctions against Russian oil.

Many Biden supporters claimed that Biden was going to sell off some oil in the reserves and then quickly rebuy later when prices would go back down.

But prices are now down and the strategic reserve has still not been refilled.

These strategic reserves are important for America's national security, so the country has some extra oil in case there is any emergency like large international war.

Or maybe there are many of those on the Left who think that savings are no good unless it is spent, or seem to hold that attitude. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that they would hold the same view about the strategic oil reserves that they do over the national debt and spending? Spend spend spend, spend it all now, like there is no tomorrow.

In my opinion this is kind of irresponsible, was a cheap dirty tactic for political gain, at the expense of longer-term American interests and security. Keep the oil prices down so Americans would not notice the extent of inflation, and make the economy seem "good". (Never mind the position the U.S. will be in later and the situation then)

 

I'll let you find your own twisted partisan arguments, but I agree in the sense that they should not have necessarily kept drawing on the reserves, even after prices dropped.

 

Open question. Are these reserves actually sold for profit? Ie can the US government buy when prices are low and then sell when prices are high?

 

And they should have begun rapidly filling the reserves once prices dropped. It was irresponsible not to.
But filling them would cost money, force Democrats to make some cuts in other areas of the budget, and raise the price of oil. (Not a huge overall effect, but nevertheless still a significant one) That wouldn't make the economy look like it was doing so well, and it wouldn't make Biden look like he was doing a "good job", in the eyes of the voters.

There's still time, so maybe we can still wait to see. If the reserve level starts making significant progress going up in the next 6 months.
But I'm pretty skeptical.

 

Yes, the reserves are both bought and sold for profit.

Theoretically, the government could buy when the prices are low and sell when the prices are high, making a profit, while at the same time helping to stabilize prices in the market.
That's what supporters of Biden's policies point out.

The problem is, there's always an innate tendency for government to easily overspend and then be very reluctant to start saving to bring things back to where they were before; and trying to foresee what the market will do and what's in the future can be risky. (For example, if oil prices had continued to go up, and then the U.S. found itself facing a huge war with Russia and China, the U.S. would be in much worse position, having so much of the oil reserves depleted)

There's a reason that this strategic oil reserve exists, and it is for big emergencies. Using up that oil to deal with smaller economic issues and market fluctuations risks leaving the country more vulnerable to bigger emergencies that the oil reserve was intended for.

 

And if the government does refill the reserve sooner or later, then what they have done is raided an emergency savings stockpile, all for short term quick benefit, with little regard for what the future holds.

It's like people stranded on a ship lost at sea, and they throw a big banquet and eat up a big portion of their food because they expect it will not be too much time until they are found and rescued.

 

The two previous posts make sense.

This one doesn't so much.

 

Why doesn't it make sense to you?
That oil was being saved in case there is an emergency in the future. Something like the 1973 Oil Crisis, and all the economic woe it brought to the U.S. economy, contributing to a major Recession.
Or a big war in the Middle East that could cut off the world supply of oil, something that's not an unlikely possibility at some point in the future.

 

Wow.
Feel free to pick and choose your crises. The way conservatives were whining high gas prices brought on by the war in Ukraine was the end of the world.

What they should be doing is filling the reserves again.

 

Is the Biden Administration going to begin quickly refilling those reserves soon?
Do Democrats even care?

 

I suggest you ask them.

I don't know.

 

President Biden is a step ahead............

From Dec 16

The U.S. Energy Department said on Friday it will begin buying back oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, the first purchase since this year’s record 180 million barrel release from the stockpile.

The department will buy up to 3 million barrels for delivery in February, a senior official told reporters.

 

Oh, he's a step ahead alright

Buy high, sell low!


Or was that the other way around.....

 

That's what its for.

Yes, it is sold to refineries, or oil companies who can do with it as they wish, and when prices come down, the reserve is replenished. The OP is simply unhappy gas prices are coming down.

Replenishment is set to begin early this year.

No, its not for "big emergencies", its simply to mitigate supply disruptions, like the ones we saw after Covid supply crunch.

Well, it was filled with cheap oil, and then sold when prices were high ( $96 per barrel).

 

was 30%, they must be refilling it

 

sell high, buy back fresh... low

 

for all we know, nothing was released, we're just getting the placebo effect

 

Whatever they say is misinformation, keep our enemy's guessing

 

Reserves aren’t meant to be gambled with. They are for emergencies and not for one man to help fix his rep
IMO this hurt his rep

 

it worked, Biden made the right choice

 

It wasn't a gamble. Increase supply and price goes down.

How is gas doubling in price due to a significant war not an emergency?

 

I have it on good authority that the upside to this is, by selling off of the old crude will allow us to refill it with fresh crude I know it sounds stupid, but the poster was quite convinced of it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I believe congress will have to OK spending tax dollars! But who know anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

People will believe anything

Here’s When Gas Prices Will Go Down – Forbes Advisor

 

Oil barrel price is now the same as it was nearly 5 years ago