After draining the nation’s oil stockpile to the lowest level since March of 1984, with promises to quickly refill it, the Biden administration is delaying its original restocking plans citing market uncertainty.
Many analysts have voiced ongoing concern that emptying the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as a means to try and drive down the price of gasoline at the pump was a sore misuse of the nation’s energy supply. While the President can typically release oil from the SPR for a host of causes, without much pushback, high gas prices resulting from bad energy policies usually aren’t on the list of acceptable reasons.
Furthermore, the recent releases from the SPR, timed to drive down gas prices right before the midterm elections, were a blatant political ploy intended to help Democrats at the ballot box at the expense of the country’s strategic preparedness.
Despite the fact that oil has hit the price target originally set by the Biden administration to begin refilling the preserve, the White House has moved the goalposts and will delay purchases until some other point down: