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Biden allows 5 MILLION barrels of oil released from US strategic reserves to be sent to Europe and Asia

July 6, 2022 | | Print Article

President Joe Biden has put America last at every turn while pointing the blame for the nation’s economic downturn at any scapegoat he can find. From Russian President Vladimir Putin to Big Oil and independent gas stations, he has decried the greed of others while boasting of “historic” moves that fizzle under scrutiny.

Now, according to Reuters, the largest-ever release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) meant to alleviate the strain on domestic energy costs has been used to export more than five million barrels across Europe and Asia in June.

The initial statement from the White House on April 21 explained one million barrels of oil would be released from the SPR every day from May until October and that, “these releases will…help address supply disruptions caused by Putin’s further invasion of Ukraine and the Price Hike that Americans are facing at the pump.”

Phillips 66, the fourth-largest U.S. oil refiner, sent roughly 470,000 from Texas to Italy and Atlantic Trading & Marketing (ATMI) shipped out two separate shipments of 560,000 barrels each. Other companies were reporting shipments to the Netherlands, India and China, which has specifically benefitted from western nations’ sanctions on Russian oil exports.

As the president’s release of oil saw exports that could benefit the American consumer shipped abroad, he took a shot at gas stations in a tweet that read, “My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.”

Billionaire Jeff Bezos fired back at Biden remarking, “Ouch. Inflation is far too important a problem for the White House to keep making statements like this. It’s either straight ahead misdirection or a deep misunderstanding of basic market dynamics.”

The US Oil & Gas Association took a similar tone with the president responding, “Working on it Mr. President. In the meantime – have a Happy 4th and please make sure the WH intern who posted this tweet registers for Econ 101 for the fall semester…”

Meanwhile, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communication John Kirby worked to support Biden’s show of striving to solve the economic problems by gaslighting the public on a pipe dream that would see the price per gallon for gasoline drop by a dollar if everybody does as they’re told.

“At the G7, working on trying to develop a price cap on Russian oil, asking Congress to support a three-month holiday for the gas tax and of course, releasing now a million barrels of oil out of the strategic reserve, a record number of barrels of oil out of our strategic reserve to try to bring that price down. He knows that’s not going to solve all of the problems but it’ll help. If everybody cooperates on this, we can bring the price down at least by about a dollar a gallon,” he said.

In other words, the administration has gone from reacting to problems by pointing blame elsewhere to now proactively seeking out scapegoats for future problems. And make no mistake, this will lead to future problems as U.S. crude inventories have now reached their lowest level since 2004 despite refineries working at near 100 percent capacities. Furthermore, the SPR has been drained to its lowest level since 1986.

Kevin Haggerty
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