The release of oil, which will start next week and roll out over 120 days, would bring the nation’s oil reserves to roughly 243 million barrels, down 41% from its current 415 million barrels. That would leave the strategic stockpile at its lowest levels since 1982, according to a CBS News analysis of data from the Department of Energy.
The last major drawdown of oil reserves occurred in March of 2022, when Biden ordered the release of 180 million barrels to combat rising gas prices caused by the war in Ukraine. His administration previously released 50 million barrels in 2021.
No one thought to fill it up prior to instigating an Iran war?
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A gross miscalculation.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/iran-oil-hormuz-blockade-trump-f96bdd53
Before the U.S. went to war, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Trump that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump acknowledged the risk, these people said, but moved forward with the most consequential foreign-policy decision of his two presidencies. He told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait—and even if Iran tried, the U.S. military could handle it.
Now, two weeks into the war, Iran’s leaders have refused to back down, and the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as Tehran’s most potent leverage point.
In a post shared on his Truth Social platform, Trump urged five countries, including China and France, to send military ships to the strait to help get oil supplies safely flowing through the critical chokepoint.
Apparently the US Navy canNOT handle it!
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