OPINION:
President Biden has lost something, and as he is fond of saying, “It’s not a joke.” The oil reserve that backstops the nation’s security and economic health remains perilously depleted, thanks to his policies. The shortfall of crude oil contained in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve risks nationwide calamity in the event of war or unforeseeable disaster.
The reserve supply of crude stored in huge salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coasts remains near its lowest level in 40 years — at 356.5 million barrels as of late January. Touted as a virtual ocean of oil, it’s now at low tide. The reserve is down nearly 300 million barrels since Mr. Biden started draining it in 2022 to boost the nation’s supply and soothe public fury over the pain of filling their tank with gasoline at $5 a gallon. In 2011, the reservoir held 726 million barrels, but it hasn’t matched that volume since.
Progress in refilling the caverns has been maddeningly sluggish. The Biden administration set its sights on purchasing oil when the cost per barrel falls below $72, but prices have flirted with the targeted range only a few times in the past year. Consequently, just 20 million replacement barrels have been pumped into the SPR — a proverbial drop in the bucket. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says full replenishment could take years.
All the while, global vortexes of violence intensify, sucking the United States closer to the centers of armed conflict. Most perilous is the war Iran has triggered along the perimeter of Israel by training and arming the relentless terror organization Hamas. A close second is Iran’s Houthi proxy force in Yemen, which threatens global commerce — and worldwide oil supplies in particular — with its attacks on commercial shipping transiting the Red Sea.
Then there is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A recently exposed, secret German government report predicts the conflict will widen this year, prompting NATO to send reinforcement troops to its Eastern European flank. U.S. military tanks, planes and ships are essential components of the alliance’s power, and they turn into costly museum pieces without the fuel to operate them.
As if that weren’t enough, while China awaits its chance to swallow Taiwan, Beijing helps Russia and Iran finance their aggression with large purchases of oil. This global turmoil helps keep the world’s attention focused anywhere but the Middle Kingdom.
“Be prepared” isn’t a motto meant only for the Boy Scouts. With Mr. Biden’s foremost duty safeguarding the lives and well-being of 336 million Americans, it should go without saying that smart management of the nation’s precious fuel resources should be high on his to-do list. Fast-moving global events leave no opportunity for do-overs or timeouts.
A conscientious chief executive would not treat the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a personal political petroleum reserve. Nor would he hesitate to replenish it when dark clouds of conflict have been gathering on the horizon for years.
President Biden has fallen short on both counts, leaving Americans with little recourse but to hope their oil and luck don’t run out.
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