When Americans got tired of waiting for gas in lines that stretched around city blocks, they created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
In the wake of the OPEC Oil Crisis, the United States government started storing somewhere around 695 million barrels of crude oil in four salt caverns located in the south of Louisiana and Texas. It is strategic because it is only meant to be used during emergencies. And it is a reserve because most of the millions of barrels have remained undisturbed since 1975.
Appropriately, the federal government tapped the reserve in the wake of the First Gulf War and then again after Hurricane Katrina to keep the glut of oil flowing and the economy humming. Inappropriately, it was raided to plug holes in the budget during the Obama administration.
Now President Trump reportedly wants to use it to keep gas prices down before the midterm elections. Bloomberg reports:
This would create downward pressure on the price of gas which has climbed to a national average of $2.89, which is about 63 cents higher than it was a year ago. By Labor Day, consumers can expect to pay somewhere close to $3.05, according to analysis by AAA.
High gas prices are unfortunate and perhaps the Strategic Petroleum Reserve may no longer be needed now that the United States is exporting oil and gas at a record pace. But raiding the reserve to ease political pressure is an unethical use of resources for nakedly political ends. The strategic reserve was designed for national crises, not opportunistic politicking.
