Given your knowledge, do you know whether or not the Reserve adjusts the quantity acquired based on the market price? That is, does the Reserve buy more oil when the price is low, and less when the price is high?
Or would that make too much sense..?
When I worked there it was nearly at full capacity and there were very few drawdowns until 1991 during the Gulf War. Although the original concept was supposed to be strictly to supply the military with oil in case of an embargo it morphed to act as a vehicle to influence the oil market. I believe in the 1991 drawdown since oil prices were up the oil was sold for more than it was bought for. However, since the DoE is supplying all this infrastructure and personnel to take in, store and pump out the oil the cost of the actual oil is just peanuts.