Trump turns to Strategic Petroleum Reserve as oil prices soar

President Trump is turning to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as oil prices soar. The International Energy Agency has pledged to release 400 million barrels of oil available from its member nations' stockpiles, the largest volume of emergency oil pulled in the organization's history. The US is one of the IEA's 32 member countries. The Trump administration soon confirmed that it would release 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting next week as part of this effort. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a collection of underground salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana that can hold more than 700 million barrels of oil. The reserve was created after the 1970s Arab oil embargo to give the United States a supply that could be used in an emergency. While pulling from the reserve may provide some short-term relief, it takes a while for new supply to trickle down to consumers, and many factors go into prices at the pump. Today, the US exports more petroleum than it imports. But the reserve remains and has been tapped for various reasons over time. Former presidents have turned to the reserve amid supply disruptions spanning from geopolitical conflicts, adding more supply onto the market in the hope of pushing prices lower. In 2022, President Joe Biden drew significantly from the reserve following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, dropping the stockpile to its lowest level since the 1980s. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush also authorized withdrawing nearly 34 million barrels during the Gulf War.

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