(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) After draining the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to dangerously historic lows in an effort to gain 2022 midterm votes, the Biden administration recently announced that it delayed refilling the critical supply.
Biden last year ordered the release of one million barrels of oil per day from the U.S. strategic reserve in a bid to have America be the world’s hedge against global gas price increases because of the war in Ukraine started by Russia and other factors, Timcast reported.
Despite the U.S. gas prices hitting record highs, more than five million barrels of America’s SPR were exported to Europe and Asia. In addition to that, a subsidiary of a state-owned Chinese gas company, in which Hunter Biden’s private equity firm held a $1.7 billion stake, also bought one million barrels from the U.S.
A White House fact sheet noted that the Biden administration released 180 million barrels and, therefore, reduced America’s emergency oil stockpile to its lowest level in nearly 40 years.
Earlier in 2023, Biden’s Energy Department announced that it plans to refill the SPR, hoping to secure 6.3 million barrels by November of this year. Biden officials estimated it would cost an average $72.67 per barrel — three times higher than the price the Trump administration negotiated — Timcast reported.
However, the U.S. held off on repurchasing oil for the nation’s emergency supply because tight oil prices currently have driven global prices to rise above $80 per barrel, which an Energy Department spokesperson described as “market conditions.”
“[The Department] remains committed to its replenishment strategy for the SPR, including direct purchases when we can secure a good deal for taxpayers, exchange returns and cancellation of planned sales where drawdown is unnecessary, in coordination with Congress,” the spokesperson said.
Translation: $65 was too cheap, we'd rather wait until oil is $130 https://t.co/wYlcciUiof
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 1, 2023
While some critics have slammed Biden’s draining the SPR as a purely political move, others suggested that foreign oil producers are manipulating the price to snub Biden by not allowing the U.S. to refill the SPR at the administration’s desired price, Timcast reported.
