Biden Promised To Fill Oil Reserves At A Profit, But Now Prices Are High

Biden Promised To Fill Oil Reserves At A Profit, But Now Prices Are High

(PatriotWise.com) – Two weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Energy revealed that it rejected every offer to purchase oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. The department claimed the bids were “either too expensive or didn’t meet the required specifications,” Bloomberg reported.

As part of his effort to ameliorate the political fallout from record gas prices, President Biden has released nearly 200 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves since November 2021.

Last month, the Department of Energy outlined its intention to begin restocking the SPR starting with the purchase of three million barrels of oil in February. However, after rejecting the offers, the department has now put off the February purchase.

The administration had planned to start buying crude oil when the price dropped to about $70 a barrel, boasting that its move would mean a “profit” for the American people.

However, the Department of Energy’s boast was premature.

In a statement released on January 6, the Department of Energy said as part of its long-term plan to “transition from release to replenishment,” it is “committed to doing so in a manner that provides a fair deal for taxpayers.”

To that end, the Energy Department will only accept bids that “meet the required crude specifications” that are “at a price that is a good deal for taxpayers.” Since none of the bids it received met the criteria, the DOE “will not be making any award selections for the February delivery window.”

Due to Biden’s reckless use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, the nation’s emergency reserves are at their lowest level since 1983. When Biden took office, the SPR contained over 600 million barrels of oil. It is now down to less than 400 million barrels.

But instead of tapping the reserves to “address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump,” as Biden claimed, many of those barrels of oil were sold to China and other foreign entities.

The world’s largest emergency supply of oil, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo.

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