Biden to refill petroleum reserve at higher cost
The Biden administration announced plans Thursday to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) two years after Democrats blocked the Trump administration’s similar, but cheaper proposal.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said it would initiate a long-term SPR replenishment plan involving a purchase of 60 million barrels of oil that would likely occur in 2023, according to the announcement. President Joe Biden has ordered a 50-million-barrel SPR release in November, a 30-million-barrel release on March 1 and a 180-million-barrel release on March 31 to combat rising gasoline prices.
The SPR, designed to store 714 million barrels of crude for emergencies, is currently at less than 600 million barrels, its lowest level since 2002, according to the Energy Information Administration. A release of 180 million barrels is expected to take the stockpile to about 400 million barrels, its lowest level since the 1980s, by the end of the year.
“As we are thoughtful and methodical in the decision to drawdown from our emergency reserve, we must be similarly strategic in replenishing the supply,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement Thursday. (RELATED: Is Biden’s Mass Release From The Strategic Oil Reserves Even Legal?)
However, Democrats proudly rejected an effort from former President Donald Trump in March 2020 — when the WTI benchmark declined to just $14.10 per barrel — to buy 77 million barrels of oil for $3 billion to replenish the SPR. On March 25, the Trump administration canceled the plan after its required funds weren’t appropriated in the 2020 coronavirus stimulus package.
...
Trump was clearly smarter than the Democrats when it came to energy and the petroleum reserve. He was also smarter than the Europeans when it came to their dependence on Russian oil. Biden is still bitching about the MAGA movement.
Comments
Post a Comment