If it was already low when President Trump wanted to replenish it, and then Biden released so much, just how lo did we go?
It looks like another situation that will end out being more kicking the can down the yellow brick road.
“it was already low when President Trump wanted to replenish it, and then Biden released so much, just how lo did we go?”
The Reserve can hold 605-750ish million barrels depending on the source. I read that when Biden finishes in November (though he’s now saying he may keep selling!) it will have about 377 mm left, IIRC. That’s 377 days at his current rate of selling.
Adding a million barrels a day to the market brings the price of oil down about 35 cents a gallon worldwide according to the estimates I’ve seen. We pay to make it cheaper for everyone, while they just benefit from Uncle Sugar.
If the USA was allowed to produce enough more to add 3mm barrels a day, gas would go down well over a buck. OPEC+ would cut production to keep the price up if we did that, but at least we’d get the jobs and other benefits here.
Govts control the worldwide price because govts control most of the supply in the world. The 5 largest private multi-national companies control a total of 7% of the market. So, expecting cheap prices except for short periods is probably a pipe dream going forward.