Joe Biden imprudently released 255 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from November 2021 to May 2023

 The November 2021 level was about 605 million barrels, about 30 days worth of supply at a 2022 consumption rate of 20 million bpd.

The 350 million barrel level was reached in May 2023 and has been range bound there for eight months. That is about 17.5 days worth of supply.

Crude oil price has not cooperated for refilling what was released. The 2021 price averaged $68 and climbed to nearly $95 in 2022. With 2023 almost over the price has averaged nearly $78.

The release of less than two weeks of supply during 2022 and 2023 as prices skyrocketed looks like a really silly political stunt. Crude oil production has rebounded to what it was under Donald Trump, so there's been plenty of supply in the higher price environment and no need to squander the SPR in this way.

Now it is too expensive to refill cheaply.

 

Damn fool Biden administration releases crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to reduce fuel prices, 5 million barrels get exported abroad last month, including to China

 

Oil From U.S. Reserves Shipped Overseas as Gas Prices Stay High 

More than 5 million barrels of oil that were part of a historic U.S. emergency reserves release to lower domestic fuel prices were exported to Europe and Asia last month . . ..

Joe Biden releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve did nothing except deplete it

 

To pay for highway bill, US House relies on selling strategic oil reserve and privatizing IRS employment instead of raising gasoline taxes

From the story here:

"The bill is in fact financed with a collection of offsets that many lawmakers find objectionable, such as raising $9 billion by selling oil from the country’s emergency oil reserves. Roughly $2.5 billion comes from requiring the Internal Revenue Service to use private debt collectors, reviving a controversial program opposed by many Democrats, consumer groups and the union that represents agency employees."