The United States should use its emergency oil supply for exactly that: emergencies. But President Joe Biden continues to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to manipulate energy markets so it can avoid the political fallout of consumer price hikes.
Currently, the SPR holds just 372 billion barrels of oil, slightly more than half its capacity. Ideally, the reserve should hold 600 million barrels to fulfill its purpose of protecting the nation from serious disruption in energy supplies.
Biden drew down the SPR to historic lows, starting in the fall of 2021 to ease gasoline prices during a massive surge in inflation. He released nearly half the available reserve the following summer in response to Russia’s move to cut exports following its invasion of Ukraine.
The administration has been slow to replenish the stockpile, even though oil prices are favorable.
The strategic reserve was created in 1975 to ensure the United States would have a large enough storehouse of crude oil to keep the economy running should oil prices spike or production drop. The move came in response to the Arab oil embargo that sent gasoline prices soaring and chilled the economy.
Since then, administrations have only emptied portions of the reserve after hurricanes that closed refineries or international events that impacted imports.
Biden is the first president to actually use SPR releases to ease consumer backlash from temporary price spikes. From March to July of 2022, the average price of oil per barrel was above $100, prompting Biden to release 260 million barrels — nearly half of the available reserve. At the time, Americans were struggling with massive inflation and the average price of gasoline hit $5 a gallon.
Biden has been slow in honoring his pledge to refill the SPR. He suspended purchases last spring, and only recently resumed them, and it appears unlikely the administration will meet the goal of fully restocking the reserve by the end of this year.
Part of the reason Biden chose to release reserves was to avoid having to approve more oil production at a time when he was promising to wean the nation from fossil fuels.
Increased production remains the surest way to stabilize prices and insulate American consumers from the vagaries of the international oil market.
The administration should commit to fast-tracking the restoration of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and returning it to its original purpose of shielding the country from a true energy emergency.
— From Tribune News Service
