Trump’s been rambling incoherently about energy prices, drill, drill drill and the oil reserve for a while now. None of what he says makes any sense but his claim that Biden drained the strategic oil reserve for his own purposes is particularly rich considering this:
The Biden administration says it has replenished the 180 million barrels of oil it withdrew from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to high prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Energy Department on Friday announced a 4.65 million barrel purchase, bringing the total purchased since the 2022 drawdown up to more than 40 million barrels.
In addition, the administration has worked with Congress to cancel 140 million barrels in planned sales — accounting for the rest of the 180 million.
“This milestone is a proof point that when the Biden-Harris Administration makes and implements a plan, we deliver for the American people,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a written statement.
“As promised, we have secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine – and we accomplished this while getting a good deal for taxpayers and maintaining the readiness of the world’s largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” she added.
The department said that the 43.25 million barrels it purchased were procured at an average price of $77 per barrel, while the oil it sold in 2022 averaged $95 per barrel.
The other 140 million barrels were essentially bought at $74 per barrel, a senior Energy Department official said.
So they sold high and bought low? Is that how this works? Who knew?
Trump is making the oil reserve a big part of his campaign and it’s based on 100% nonsense:
Former President Donald Trump is vowing to refill the nation’s strategic oil stockpile if he returns to the White House next year, seeking to elevate the issue ahead of the November elections.
During a Fox News interview Wednesday, Trump said the Biden administration’s gambit to lower gasoline prices by conducting several reserve drawdowns in recent years has hurt the nation’s energy security.
“[Biden is] using the strategic reserves, which is meant for military, which is meant for war, and very important things, he’s using it to try and keep gasoline prices down,” Trump said. “We can’t allow that to happen.”
[…]
Trump claimed that the reserve was being “filled up at levels never seen before” during his administration. In reality, the reserve’s levels were at their most recent peak in 2011 and dropped around 57 million barrels during Trump’s tenure.
Trump is pretty much on auto-pilot these days rerunning the glory days of his 2016 campaign. It’s pretty clear he has not learned a thing in the 8 years since then. One would hope the media would be kind enough to give Biden some credit for what he accomplished on this front, unlike Trump. He did some pretty amazing things for a supposedly pathetic, decrepit old man.