World Oil Prices - revised 3/10/26

 This morning I read a BBC article about oil prices and actions by the “International” Energy Agency. The article discussed the increase in oil prices since the attacks on Iran began. It mentioned that oil prices had “spiraled” to $115/barrel at one point. The report stated that there was speculation that the “International” Energy Agency might release 300-400 million barrels from emergency stockpiles.

Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story. The article caught my interest because it mentioned an “International” Energy Agency that has stockpiled crude oil, for emergencies. The article went on to say that 300 million barrels represented a quarter of oil stockpiled.

Some research revealed that there are 32 member countries in the International Energy Agency and that they have a combined public ownership of 1.25 billion barrels of oil (the BBC article noted that global oil consumption is 104 million barrels/day). Members are required to maintain emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports. The United States is one of the members. Our (Our being the United States) Strategic Petroleum Reserve held over 700 million barrels from 2008-2011. It currently holds 415 million barrels. It held 638 million barrels when President Biden took office in 2021. He sold off almost 300 million barrels, until there was only 350 million barrels in storage in September 2023. (Anyone else wonder what happened to the nearly $30 BILLION the US received from selling the oil?) By January 2025 the reserve had been somewhat replenished, it held 395 million barrels. As mentioned earlier it currently holds 415 million barrels.

Some in the Main Stream Media will tout the fact that the US is one of the worlds largest oil importers, and we are. However, we export more than we import, and have since 2020. European Union nations, who make up the bulk of the International Energy Agency, import over 9 million barrels per day. The US supplies 1.4 million barrels of that, Norway, who is not in the EU, supplies them with another 1.1 million barrels.

There is no reason for the US to draw down our SPR further, in fact, prior to the recent spike in oil prices we should have been refilling it at a faster rate. Let the big oil importer nations draw down their emergency reserves and let those who need the oil in the tankers waiting to go through the Gulf of Oman insure those tankers and provide escorts for them. The US taxpayer should not have to once again bail out Europe. 

According to the US eia.gov website, the average price of regular gasoline in the US averaged $3.95 in 2022 and $3.52 in 2023. Also, it average over $3.35/gal from 2011-2014. We may not like paying over $3/gallon for gasoline but it isn’t something new.

Added 3/10/26

Russia invaded the Ukraine in February 2022. SPR held over 580 million barrels.

Biden ordered a 180 million barrel release.

By June 2023 the SPR had been drawn down to less than 350 million barrels. That seems like a 230 million barrel draw down.

In November 2024 Biden’s Department of Energy announced that 200 million barrels of crude had been delivered to replenish the SPR, yet there was only 390 million barrels in storage.  A year after the announcement, in November 2025 there was still only 411 million barrels in storage. In February 2026 there was only 415 million barrels in storage.

Let’s see. In 2022 our federal government told us that 180 million barrels were going to be released from our SPR. 230 million barrels were actually sold off.

In 2024 our federal government told us that 200 million barrels of oil had been put back into the SPR, yet according to government figures the SPR is still 165 million barrels short of where it was in February 2022.

How can you tell when  a politician/bureaucrat is lying? His/her lips are moving.  Are there any honest people in government? After the recent commercials down here in Texas, during the primaries, I think ALL politician wanna bes are liars.

 https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-makes-final-purchase-strategic-petroleum-reserve-secures-200#:~:text=This%20aggressive%20buyback%20strategy%20has,Granholm. Biden Department of Energy patting itself on the  back for selling 180 million barrels of oil for an average price of $95/barrel and buying 200 million barrels for $75/barrel.

 https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCSSTUS1&f=W data on amount of oil in storage.

 https://www.iea.org/news/iea-confirms-member-country-contributions-to-second-collective-action-to-release-oil-stocks-in-response-to-russias-invasion-of-ukraine IEA members other than the US agree to release 60 million barrels from their SPR’s. Apr 2022


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