An undated photo provided by the Department of Energy shows crude oil pipes at the Bryan Mound site near Freeport, Texas. President Joe Biden is dipping again into the nation’s petroleum stockpile to try to corral rising energy prices. The White House announced Thursday, March 31, 2022, that Biden ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the strategic petroleum reserve for the next six months.(Department of Energy via AP)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:34 AM PT – Monday, April 4, 2022
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Joe Biden’s verbal attacks on oil companies are not helpful in curbing high gas prices. In a recent interview, he criticized Biden’s plan to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Summers asserted that instead of just selling a million barrels per day, the Biden administration should have committed to buying back that oil one year from now at a $10 discount. He then suggested the U.S. Treasury could make a profit on the SPR release.
“So, the government can sell oil for above $100 and promise to buy that oil back in the range of $90,” Summers explained. “And then, a year from now, we’ll have the same sized Strategic Petroleum Reserve we had before. And we’ll have $10 a barrel times say 100 million barrels of oil, which is $1 billion.”
I applaud the Biden Administration’s massive SPR release. It should be coupled w a forward purchase of oil to offset environmental issues and replenish the reserve.
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) April 2, 2022
Summers also said the U.S. government must use a “modern financial approach” to strategic reserves to lock in profits while selling that oil.
