In a desperate attempt to reduce skyrocketing gas prices in the United States, Biden ordered 50 million barrels of oil to be released from America’s strategic reserve.
Let me begin by saying I believe this is yet again another reckless move by the Biden Administration. This is no different than printing money to help America out of a jam that his administration caused in the first place by exasperating the Covide pandemic. If there’s one thing the Democrats and Biden are good at (and trust me, there aren’t many things), it’s causing problems to then make themselves look like heroes. The problem, however, is that their solutions always come back to bite them in the ass, and tapping our oil reserves will be no different.
So why would it be unwise for Joe Biden to tap the strategic petroleum reserve? First of all, it was only a few weeks ago when Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm laughed at a question about what the administration might do to reduce gasoline prices. When asked in an interview by Thomas Massie what her plan was to increase oil production in the US, she laughed uncontrollably saying she can’t do anything and that US consumers are at the mercy of a cartel called OPEC.
Back in 2019 when then-President Donald Trump was considering tapping the oil reserves during the Venezula conflict, CNN was quick to slam Trump and caution that tapping the SPR won’t do much to ease a shortage, especially not in the long run.
“The problem is that not all crude is created equal. Different regions produce different grades of crude. Some of it, like what comes out of Venezuela, is so thick and heavy that it can’t be put into pipelines. Other crude, like what gets pumped in Texas, is very light and clear like gasoline”, wrote Matt Egan, a CNN Business contributor.
The article also pointed out that analysts believe that tapping the SPR would only create a short-term relief in the oil market because the emergency reserve lacks those heavy barrels.
“It’s not the optimal solution. Ultimately, there would still be a pretty big void,” said Ryan Fitzmaurice, energy strategist at Rabobank. “You’d have less bullets and higher prices”.
“If this is a protracted supply shortfall, the SPR will have diminishing returns in terms of effectiveness.”
RBC Capital’s Helima Croft
As gas prices continue to soar, Americans can absolutely blame Joe Biden for the mess we’re in. Biden’s attack on U.S. energy producers, starting with his freeze on federal oil and gas leases certainly took its toll on output and caused prices at the pump to rise as predicted by an article written by TheHill.com.
In Biden’s irrational and impulsive attempt to undo every vestige of the Trump presidency, Biden has undermined the extraordinary progress made by the previous administration towards peace in the Middle East, including “recalibrating” our relationship with Saudi Arabia. The signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco marked an undisputed breakthrough in opening relations among bitter enemies and also in ring-fencing a belligerent Iran.
Instead of attempting to build on that achievement, Biden has tried to bury it. Upon taking office President Biden immediately froze arms sales to the UAE, which had been promised as part of the deal. He next halted military aid to the Saudi war in Yemen and rescinded the terrorist organization designation applied to the Houthis by President Trump, emboldening that group to step up their attacks on Saudi Arabia.
It’s no surprise that The Gulf kingdom surprised energy markets back in March 2021 by announcing it would not raise oil output, despite developing supply constraints and rising prices after everything the Biden Administration put them through.
