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Yes, lets deplete our reserves right before the Middle East erupts into war. Makes a lot of sense.

It's a really bad move to deplete the SPR when there is a possible supply disruption later this year caused by a military conflict with Iran, and any release of oil from the SPR will NOT bring down oil prices significantly. Oil and gasoline prices will not decline significantly for the following reasons: 1) If they release a small amount of oil, that won't be enough oil to affect the huge oil commodity market, and 2) Because a conflict with Iran could cause a supply disruption later this year or next year, if they release a substantial amount of oil that could bring down oil prices for a few weeks but the reduced reserves then make the US more vulnerable to a future supply disruption and that would offset the impact of higher short-term inventories. So there will be no change in oil prices beyond a few weeks from the date of the release of oil. Oil traders have already included all the oil in the SPR in their calculations of where oil prices could go if there is a supply disruption, and moving some of the SPR oil into above-ground storage tanks doesn't change the total amount of readily available US oil reserves. It simply moves the oil from one storage facility to another.

So the most likely end result of any oil release will be no change in oil prices beyond a few weeks into the future, and a substantial release of SPR oil could actually cause oil prices to RISE in the second half of this year because we'll be more vulnerable to a supply disruption. So this release of oil seems more like mere psyops being run against oil traders, who are far too smart to fall for this kind of trick. The oil market and oil stocks has already bounced back from this news release, and XLE is actually unchanged today, which shows that stock traders may be expecting an increase in oil prices later in the year caused by this poorly-reasoned decision to release strategic reserves.

This is a really bad move. The SPR is intended as an emergency reserve to keep our economy going if we have an extended supply disruption. It is not intended to be used for short-term management of oil prices or for political manipulation of the oil and gasoline markets. This release of strategic reserves also will make America more vulnerable to a supply disruption in the Middle East.

“Yes, lets deplete our reserves right before the Middle East erupts into war. Makes a lot of sense.”

Just paving the way for the caliphate of the 12th iman.

If we draw down our reserves, then we cannot back Israel in a war since it would stress our capacity and endanger America.

See? Simple.

Now stop thinking about these things. The Kardashians have some scandal to worry over.