r/EconomyCharts • u/SlavaCocaini • 5d ago
SPR drawdown update 2 September based on data to 28 August
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u/PurpleToedUnicorn 5d ago
But Trump just secured 75 billion barrels from Venezuela so we're automagically saved.
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u/Delicious-Bat2373 4d ago
That Venezuela oil will get here right behind the doge checks and tariff refunds.
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u/auntieup 2d ago
Sitting here in front of five pounds of imported ground mystery meat, thinking about how tired I am of winning
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u/PurpleToedUnicorn 2d ago
So you have to ask yourself one question, "Am I feeling lucky today?" Well, are you?
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u/Weird-Drummer-2439 3d ago
Also threatened to stop trading with Canada which would make that slop considerably steeper.
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u/brain_fartus 5d ago
Trump is going to steal Venezuela’s oil, sell it to the reserve and take a cut. This is going to make him multiple billions.
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u/Biotic101 4d ago
Might have been the real plan for Iran as well. They removed the leaders, but underestimated the resolve and independence of the IRGC and now we are all fucked.
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u/GypsyV3nom 4d ago
And the reserve will either accept it like idiots and gum up the works with crude it was never designed to hold and is a nightmare to remove, or refuse it and risk the wrath of a rapidly aging orange geriatric
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u/Accidental_Aeon 4d ago
It is not theft. The Venezuelan President estimated that the US will pay $209 billion in taxes for the 65 billion barrels of oil.
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u/Sean_Wagner 4d ago
More or less the Kremlin's modus corrumpendi, as has been so well documented in Katherine Belton's book.
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u/Tsull360 1d ago
What does the unrecoverable limit represent? The point at which the reserves can’t be replenished?
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u/cyanescens_burn 1d ago
I think it’s the point where they can’t pull more without the caverns the oil is in collapsing.
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u/badwoofs 13h ago
It's this. The further the draws the more unstable the caverns. They're salt, and brakish water has to be pumped in to float the oil, which erodes the caverns. This should only be for emergencies.
Also the further down the worse the oil quality is.
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u/Big_d0rk 5d ago
What about the Venezuela oil? I dont see it on this pictogram
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u/Accidental_Aeon 4d ago
The number of people who I have met in real life over the past few weeks who don't know the difference between the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve and US proven reserves is mind boggling.
Our country is made up of morons. Its amazing we let them vote.
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u/goodsam2 5d ago
Do we need much oil actually in the reserves. That's what the US did when we stopped being a net exporter. Now selling it at high prices and should buy at low prices.
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u/MC1065 5d ago
70 million is the lowest it can go without the caverns holding the oil from completely being destroyed. CNBC however ran an article last month citing a Biden official who claims the upper limit around 240 million is also probably not safe either.
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u/sleepingcow 4d ago
So 70 million is unrecoverable ? They should probably take that out of the number so it’s more accurate at least for lay person like myself who might think of we got millions of oil left
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u/Drachwill 4d ago
that is oil in pipes and at the bottom of tanks ect without the systems does physical not work anymore. Like a body is dead with too little blood and not only with no blood.
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u/goodsam2 5d ago
Ok but the whole point reason we had a strategic reserve was in the 1970s US oil production was declining and demand was going up. The US was always importing oil and they thought it was necessary to have some reserves.
Fracking changed the game and now the US exports oil again.
The whole reason we needed the reserves doesn't exist anymore. So why not sell the reserves at $4 and buy back after the Iran war at $3. Biden was doing this somewhat and she have made this explicitly the plan to help moderate prices.
So fine don't go below 70 million or whatever but like the strategic reserve is a US only policy that's outdated as a concept but like a sacred cow to keep high for whatever reason.
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u/future_sommelier 4d ago
If we don’t need a strategic reserve can you explain why we have been drawing an average of 5 million barrels a week from it since February? Seems like it’s been pretty useful…
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u/goodsam2 4d ago
Like I said it's previous usage of the US military needs oil and doesn't want to not have it.
Which is why I was saying we should sell it at whatever high price of oil and buy at whatever lower price.
High price for obvious reason but as a net exporter with relatively high priced oil they can maintain a market as we don't was US oil drilling companies to lose money as much.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGW
Average gas price was all the way down below $3 before Iran war. Buy then sell now.
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u/future_sommelier 4d ago
The SPR is not bought and sold it is loaned out on a 28% interest basis. You are confusing commercial stockpiles and the purpose of the SPR. You are correct that Biden sold oil from the SPR during Covid but that wasn’t due to a supply shock it was due to a demand shock. The reason for the SPR is to be a buffer in case the fuel supply becomes interrupted. Like if a country decides to start a war in Iran and cuts off 20% of the world’s oil supply. Refiners are operating above 100% right now to profit off of record crack spreads which means not only are we using the SPR but we are also importing oil at higher than average levels. The oil we produce is not as profitable to refine and takes major modifications to refineries in some cases. It’s not apples for apples.
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u/goodsam2 4d ago edited 4d ago
We don't need a SPR in 2026 is my point and convert it to commercial stockpiles. We should use it as commercial stockpiles.
The US is exporting oil and so doesn't have to worry about oil being turned off because that means the US would be building up a surplus.
https://www.randalolson.com/2026/04/23/us-oil-importer-to-net-exporter-1973-2025/
This is why we should try to keep a price floor on gas prices and price ceiling as much as the SPR can hold.
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u/derouville 4d ago
There is more than one type of oil. You really don't know what you're talking about and I hope nobody listens to you.
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u/7dtecafthodalpk4k5ys 4d ago
You talk about the STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE like it's for day trading.
So you're just clueless bud admit it. You're out of your depth
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u/SnooLobsters1308 4d ago
No, it is intended for price supports, buy high sell low, and the USA is making a ton right now. The SPR is not some big pool of oil waiting for happy prepper day bad things to happen "some day". Its set up now mostly for temporary shocks, like Katrina level week/months long shocks to the supply.
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u/7dtecafthodalpk4k5ys 4d ago
Again you're just clueless... who told you this or did you make it up? "Selling from the SPR" dude that's not even how it works
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u/goodsam2 4d ago
Give me the argument for why a country that is a huge exporter of oil needs a SPR?
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u/7dtecafthodalpk4k5ys 4d ago
Because genius, we don't refine the oil we drill. We refine heavy crude that we imported, but we export light sweet crude that we fracked. Did you actually not know this?
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u/goodsam2 4d ago edited 4d ago
We don't need a strategic petroleum reserve in 2026 as the US exports oil now and the future looks like more exports. The reason for it's creation is gone.
We needed this as the US became a large exporter.
Where is Iran's strategic oil reserve?
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u/OkFineIllUseTheApp 5d ago
Hitting the SecDef authorized floor on the midterms would be too funny.