Joe Biden must stop politicizing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

In case you hadn’t noticed, the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is now down to 389 million barrels, the lowest levels seen since the early years of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Even with the election now behind us, the current plan is to keep releasing more oil from the SPR until crude oil prices drop below $70 per barrel. This is obviously a situation that can’t continue indefinitely and the SPR needs to be refilled. Has anyone in Washington learned anything from this experience? The president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, Mike Sommers, recently went on Fox News with a message for the White House and any future presidents who might be tempted to follow Joe Biden’s example. He bitingly referred to the SPR as now being the “strategic political reserve,” and called on the government to stop politicizing what is supposed to be a vital national asset that is meant to supply a buffer during an actual emergency, not a political tool that presidents use to scare up a few more votes. Sommers also warned that we could be running into another “major oil crisis” early in the new year.Read More