The United States lost its oil cushion

The US is losing its oil cushion as President Joe Biden’s administration’s plan to lower global oil prices progresses.

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The volume of oil in the country’s strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) in the week ended September 16 decreased by 7 million barrels compared to the previous week and amounted to 427 million barrels of oil, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy showed. This is the lowest level since 1984. At the same time, the current volume of oil in the SPR for the first time since 1983 is less than commercial reserves, which amounted to 430.77 million barrels.

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The US is depleting its reserves at a rapid pace this year. The Energy Department on Monday said it had sold 155 million barrels of oil since Biden’s March 31 announcement of a plan to sell 180 million barrels of SPR oil to combat high fuel prices and supply disruptions. Thus, the US government was selling a little less than 900 thousand barrels of oil per day, which covered almost 1% of global energy demand.