Tipsheet

Biden to Sell More Oil From Strategic Reserve After Draining It to 40-Year Low

President Joe Biden will move ahead with the sale of 26 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after draining more than 180 million barrels from America's emergency backup supply in 2022. Already, SPR levels are at their lowest since the 1980s.

According to the Department of Energy, the SPR held 371,579,000 barrels of oil as of February 3, the smallest amount since November 1983. 

The sale of the 26 million additional barrels will take place between April and June, and further reduce the amount of emergency oil the United States has to respond to *actual* emergencies not caused by Biden's war on fossil fuels. For context, the SPR held 638 million barrels of oil the week Biden took office. It's now been almost halved by Biden, who is now draining even more from the SPR. 

Whether it's a ploy by Biden to try and soften the blow of rising gas prices expected to move upward again this spring and summer — a rather desperate attempt to prevent the same spike to all-time highs that Americans saw last summer — or just Biden continuing to drain off America's oil while limiting more production, it's more confounding policy that won't actually make things better for Americans but will make the U.S. less prepared for serious emergencies.