The USA has a strategic oil reserve that was established many decades ago. Much of the oil is stored in vast caverns under the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. The government has a capacity to hold 713 million barrels of oil. That's a huge amount. To put it in context, that's equal to about ten percent of all the oil used in the USA last year.
As of a month ago, the reserve was not full. America had storage for about another 80 million barrels of oil. When the CARES Act was first proposed, President Trump requested that Congress authorize the purchase of enough oil at the current very low price to top off the reserves. That would have restored our reserves at an amazingly low cost. The Democrats refused to allow that to happen; they said it was a bail out for the oil companies. While it is true that buying the oil would have helped the US oil industry, it would also have been a win for US readiness in the case of a catastrophe. It's the same sort of reserve that should have had more personal protective equipment and masks prior to the corona virus outbreak, you know, the reserve that the Democrats have been complaining about because it was not filled to the brim. It seems that a reserve of medical supplies has to be up to the top, but a reserve of critical materials can't be replenished even at low prices not seen for the last 40 years.
In any event, when the Dems blocked money for the purchase of oil supplies for the reserve, the President didn't miss a beat. He used his existing authority to open up the reserve to storage of oil being produced by companies across the USA. He's renting out the empty storage facilities so the oil companies have a place to put their production during the current virus-caused glut in oil. The oil companies get a place to put their oil, the US gets fees for storing the oil, and -- most important -- the millions of people whose jobs come from the oil and gas industry continue to work rather than getting furloughed. It's still a win-win situation.
I'm writing about this today because as usual, the meanstream media is getting the story wrong. If you look at articles today, you will see it reported that the USA is buying oil to fill the reserve. Nope, that's wrong. The USA is renting storage area to American oil companies so as to preserve jobs for those in the oil industry. Buying the oil at the current low price would have been a great move for the USA, but the Dems blocked it in order to try to punish the oil companies and, of course, the workers of that industry. President Trump found a way around the Dems so the government could preserve those jobs.
Once again, the Dems blocked actions that would have helped ordinary American working people. Even so, Trump got a win for the country.
As of a month ago, the reserve was not full. America had storage for about another 80 million barrels of oil. When the CARES Act was first proposed, President Trump requested that Congress authorize the purchase of enough oil at the current very low price to top off the reserves. That would have restored our reserves at an amazingly low cost. The Democrats refused to allow that to happen; they said it was a bail out for the oil companies. While it is true that buying the oil would have helped the US oil industry, it would also have been a win for US readiness in the case of a catastrophe. It's the same sort of reserve that should have had more personal protective equipment and masks prior to the corona virus outbreak, you know, the reserve that the Democrats have been complaining about because it was not filled to the brim. It seems that a reserve of medical supplies has to be up to the top, but a reserve of critical materials can't be replenished even at low prices not seen for the last 40 years.
In any event, when the Dems blocked money for the purchase of oil supplies for the reserve, the President didn't miss a beat. He used his existing authority to open up the reserve to storage of oil being produced by companies across the USA. He's renting out the empty storage facilities so the oil companies have a place to put their production during the current virus-caused glut in oil. The oil companies get a place to put their oil, the US gets fees for storing the oil, and -- most important -- the millions of people whose jobs come from the oil and gas industry continue to work rather than getting furloughed. It's still a win-win situation.
I'm writing about this today because as usual, the meanstream media is getting the story wrong. If you look at articles today, you will see it reported that the USA is buying oil to fill the reserve. Nope, that's wrong. The USA is renting storage area to American oil companies so as to preserve jobs for those in the oil industry. Buying the oil at the current low price would have been a great move for the USA, but the Dems blocked it in order to try to punish the oil companies and, of course, the workers of that industry. President Trump found a way around the Dems so the government could preserve those jobs.
Once again, the Dems blocked actions that would have helped ordinary American working people. Even so, Trump got a win for the country.
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