{"id":1553985,"date":"2022-07-14T07:31:49","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1553985"},"modified":"2022-07-14T09:34:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T13:34:54","slug":"why-american-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-went-to-foreign-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-american-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-went-to-foreign-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"Why American Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil Went to Foreign Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-american-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-went-to-foreign-countries%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1553985&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><em>By Philip Wegmann for RealClearPolitics<\/em><\/p>\n<p>President Biden made sure to emphasize that the action he was about to take was extraordinary.<\/p>\n<p>In late March, as the price of gasoline spiked, his administration threw open the spigot of the National Strategic Petroleum Reserve and began releasing a million barrels a day to, in the president\u2019s telling, \u201cprovide a historic amount of supply\u201d until domestic production could ramp back up.<\/p>\n<p>But some of that historic supply meant to ease domestic pain, per new reports, ended up overseas. According to Reuters, as gasoline and diesel prices hit record highs last month, more than 5 million barrels flowed from the petroleum reserve to markets in Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/bidens-abuse-of-the-defense-production-act-will-drive-gas-prices-even-higher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden\u2019s Abuse Of The Defense Production Act Will Drive Gas Prices Even Higher<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That news seemed to catch White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre off-guard Tuesday. \u201cI have not seen that report,\u201d she replied when RealClearPolitics asked about the Reuters story, \u201cso I would honestly have to go look into it and see what the truth is in that statement that you just laid out and see exactly what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The White House regularly points to their emergency use of the petroleum reserve as evidence they are \u201csupporting American consumers\u201d in the face of \u201cPutin\u2019s price hike.\u201d And it may be working. As Patrick De Haan of the gas price analysis firm Gas Buddy\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GasBuddyGuy\/status\/1545016197749637121?s=20&#038;t=v5CbJpjuKuzGACCvjo-MUQ\">noted on Twitter,<\/a>\u00a0the 2.8 cent price drop per gallon in the national average that occurred Wednesday represents \u201cthe second largest single day drop\u201d in the last decade.<\/p>\n<p>The administration welcomed that news and remains cautiously optimistic. Asked if the country had turned the corner on pain at the pump, Jean-Pierre told reporters that while more work needed to be done, the falling prices were a welcome part of \u201ca cool down period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the president\u2019s National Economic Council director was eager to see Biden get the credit. \u201cThe release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve sounds esoteric to people,\u201d Brian Deese told Bloomberg News Thursday morning, \u201cbut oil market analysts will say it was single-handedly responsible for keeping oil prices from going higher.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"subscribe\" class=\"email-signup inarticle\">\n<h4>Support Conservative Voices!<\/h4>\n<h5><strong>Sign up to receive the latest<\/strong> political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p>They were less eager to shoulder any responsibility for some of that supply heading overseas. A spokesperson for the Department of Energy told RCP that energy markets are international in nature and they couldn\u2019t dictate the moves the oil and gas industry makes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOil is a commodity traded on the global market, and while the United States government does not control oil and gas companies, the commodity the industry sells or the market, the SPR remains a critical energy security tool to address global crude oil supply disruptions,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the emergency release from the strategic reserve had helped \u201ckeep our economy running and mitigate the pain Putin is causing at the pump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Domestic oil and gas companies, the spokesperson continued, \u201care eligible for sales and exchanges from the SPR and have benefited from the releases to date.\u201d So have foreign companies, according to Reuters and the Department of Energy\u2019s own press releases.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/soaring-global-coal-use-is-obliterating-emission-reductions-achieved-in-the-u-s-since-2005\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soaring Global Coal Use Is Obliterating Emission Reductions Achieved In The U.S. Since 2005<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Reuters reported that crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve was headed to India and the Netherlands \u2013 as well as China. According to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/articles\/doe-announces-sales-strategic-petroleum-reserve-combat-putins-price-hike\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an April press release<\/a>\u00a0from the U.S. Department of Energy, a contract to buy nearly 1 million barrels was awarded to Unipec America, Inc., the trading arm of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/company\/sinopec-group\/global500\/v\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">state-owned<\/a>\u00a0China Petrochemical Corporation, commonly known as Sinopec.<\/p>\n<p>As the conservative Washington Free Beacon\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/biden-sold-a-million-barrels-from-us-strategic-petroleum-reserve-to-china-owned-gas-giant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently noted<\/a>, Hunter Biden, the president\u2019s son, has previously had ties to Sinopec. A private equity firm he co-founded, Bohai Harvest RST,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2020\/may\/22\/hunter-biden-and-china-sorting-through-murky-busin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">purchased a $1.7 billion<\/a> stake in Sinopec Marketing in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>For months, Republicans have been making hay of high gas prices at Biden\u2019s expense. News that oil meant for domestic markets was going overseas was too good to pass up. \u201cWondering why you paid $5 per gallon for gas this weekend?\u201d former Vice President Pence\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Mike_Pence\/status\/1544762649560375297?s=20&#038;t=XCfmMBWC9iM24mkM_UEhSg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tweeted<\/a>. \u201cWhile Joe Biden was planning his trip to Saudi Arabia to beg for foreign oil, his administration was shipping off precious US oil reserves to other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the face of such criticism, administration officials continued to insist that they can\u2019t control what private companies do, and the oil that went overseas appears to be a small fraction of the total released from the national reserve thus far. Some conservatives conceded the point\u00a0\u2013 at least in part. \u201cOnce oil is released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, current U.S. law allows for companies that are registered to purchase it to then sell it on the market, including to adversaries like China,\u201d said Heritage Foundation energy analyst Jack Spencer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/biden-calls-for-federal-and-state-gas-tax-holidays-a-move-critics-call-a-gimmick\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden Calls For Federal And State Gas Tax Holidays, A Move Critics Call A \u2018Gimmick\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All the same, Spencer told RCP, \u201cAmericans are absolutely justified in asking why these valuable reserves, ostensibly for use in U.S. national emergencies or to advance U.S. national security interests, are going to unfriendly countries.\u201d The fundamental problem, as conservatives like Spencer see it, is \u201cBiden\u2019s war on domestic energy production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReleasing oil from the SPR does not address the fundamental supply problems caused by Biden\u2019s policies, and the market knows it. Similar to other gimmicks like suspension of the gas tax, it will have no sustainable market impact,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n<p><em>Syndicated with permission from Real Clear Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"disclaimer\">The opinions expressed by contributors and\/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Political Insider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Philip Wegmann for RealClearPolitics President Biden made sure to emphasize that the action he was about to take was extraordinary. In late March, as the price of gasoline spiked,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1554122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1553985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1553985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1553985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1553985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1553985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}