We are not big fans of having a strategic petroleum reserve.  Private markets can and should stockpile reserves.  But since we have one, Trump is right to draw down the SPR now at a world price of $80 to $100 a barrel. Buy low, sell high is good business and good for consumers.

The SPR is for emergencies, such as after Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast and after Russia invaded Ukraine.

But Biden plundered the oil reserve for political gain. The WSJ recently explained Biden’s political ploy:

As energy prices rose with inflation, Mr. Biden in November 2021 announced a release of 50 million barrels. Gasoline prices were not especially high at the time ($3.40 a gallon), but the Biden crowd’s goal was to ease public fury over rising costs while they pursued policies to restrict domestic oil and gas production…

All told, the Biden team drew down 284 million barrels between 2021 and 2023.

At the very time we should have been drilling for U.S. oil and building out our energy infrastructure, the Biden administration declared war on domestic production. His first act was suspending the Keystone XL pipeline. No refineries and few pipelines were built despite a giant need.

It gets worse. The Wall Street Journal reports that the 200 million barrels taken out of the SPR and improper maintenance under Biden has left the reserve in such physical distress ($200 million in needed repair costs), that it is of limited strategic use at the moment.

We have the anti-fossil fuel crazies in the Biden Administration to thank for putting us in this hole.