Tucker Carlson: Why is SPR oil going to China?

[Anti Federalist]

 

[donnay]

Good question...

 

[acptulsa]

I thought we left that in the ground for the last seven decades to use to fight China.

 

[Anti Globalist]

Because Biden wants China to be an economic powerhouse instead of the US.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Why is SPR oil going to China?

Globalism.

This would not be a popular discussion with beltway libertarians, but should there be any limits on commoditizing and selling everything possible globally? This is the essential question. Should US oil be exported until the price equalizes globally? Why should an ounce of oil be refined and sold in the US if another nation such as China is willing to pay a penny more per barrel?

This question intertwines with politics. What kind of arrangements (and laws and regulations) can be made? What kind of punishments can the industry impose if they are not happy? What kind of punishments can the government impose if they are not happy? And inevitably, it’s the consumers who suffer when punishments are being handed out.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Because Biden wants China to be an economic powerhouse instead of the US.

Well, economics aside, the fact that China has partnered with, blackmailed, paid off, and compromised the majority of the western politicians and elite could explain some level of pandering to China.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Globalism.

This would not be a popular discussion with beltway libertarians, but should there be any limits on commoditizing and selling everything possible globally? This is the essential question. Should US oil be exported until the price equalizes globally? Why should an ounce of oil be refined and sold in the US if another nation such as China is willing to pay a penny more per barrel?

This question intertwines with politics. What kind of arrangements (and laws and regulations) can be made? What kind of punishments can the industry impose if they are not happy? What kind of punishments can the government impose if they are not happy? And inevitably, it’s the consumers who suffer when punishments are being handed out.

In this case, since the oil in question was bought and paid for by US citizens and taxpayers, the answer is yes, god damn it.

Not that it would do much good one way or the other, but the point is that oil was supposed to go on the US market to increase US supply in the hope it would lower US fuel prices.

 

[Invisible Man]

I've seen articles about this. But none of them said anything about what price this oil is being sold at. Is it just being sold at the market price? Or is this some kind of subsidy to China?

If it's being sold at the market price, then what difference does it make who the specific buyers of it are?

 

[acptulsa]

I've seen articles about this. But none of them said anything about what price this oil is being sold at. Is it just being sold at the market price? Or is this some kind of subsidy to China?

If it's being sold at the market price, then what difference does it make who the specific buyers of it are?

It's the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It was bought and set aside at taxpayer expense after WWII for the specific purpose of enabling us to sustain a war against a Communist country--specifically, either one of two particular Communist countries--in that eventuality.

That is what difference it makes who the specific buyer is.

 

[Invisible Man]

It's the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It was bought and set aside at taxpayer expense after WWII for the specific purpose of enabling us to sustain a war against a Communist country--specifically, either one of two particular Communist countries--in that eventuality.

That is what difference it makes who the specific buyer is.

I don't see how that makes any difference.

If they just sold that oil to buyers in the US, and then that freed up private oil companies to increase the number of barrels they sold in China instead of the US by the same amount, the end result is the same isn't it?

It's like, if you're trying to make the water in a pool deeper in the deep end, you don't have to pour the new water in the deep end. No matter where you pour the water, the whole pool gets deeper.

 

[acptulsa]

So. The Biden Administration announces it will release strategic reserve oil owned by the American people to the American people, then assumes the marketplace will give Americans a price break if it sells said oil to a foreign rival (some would call them an enemy), and you say...

It makes a difference. Even if their assumptions are all correct, it makes the Biden Administration guilty of lying, gambling with the public's assets, and in some eyes, directly aiding and abetting an enemy.

At the very least, even a troll must admit that it's dishonest, and generally lacks class.

 

[Invisible Man]

The oil market is a global market. It's a fungible commodity. If you increase the supply, it lowers the price. The supply goes up everywhere, and the price goes down everywhere.

You can't say, "These particular barrels of oil over here will get sold in the US so that we can just lower the price there."

 

[acptulsa]

The oil market is a global market. It's a fungible commodity. If you increase the supply, it lowers the price. The supply goes up everywhere, and the price goes down everywhere.

You can't say, "These particular barrels of oil over here will get sold in the US so that we can just lower the price there."

Sure I can. Why can't I? Or if I can't, the seller surely can, especially if the seller is a government.

And increasing a local supply can most certainly affect that local price, regardless of how global and/or fungible the market and/or the commodity may be. Admittedly the effect may be extremely transitory. The price drop may only last until the next hundred sales are made to other markets. But that is an effect.

In any case, it ensures that particular market sees some of that commodity.

You do realize, I hope, that you can labor like Hercules and you'll never fix this administration's horrible optics. One wonders why you try.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

I've seen articles about this. But none of them said anything about what price this oil is being sold at. Is it just being sold at the market price? Or is this some kind of subsidy to China?

If it's being sold at the market price, then what difference does it make who the specific buyers of it are?

I don't see how that makes any difference.

If they just sold that oil to buyers in the US, and then that freed up private oil companies to increase the number of barrels they sold in China instead of the US by the same amount, the end result is the same isn't it?

It's like, if you're trying to make the water in a pool deeper in the deep end, you don't have to pour the new water in the deep end. No matter where you pour the water, the whole pool gets deeper.

“A beltway libertarian would say!”

 

[Invisible Man]

“A beltway libertarian would say!”

Fixed.

 

[Anti Federalist]

“A beltway libertarian would say!”

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Brian4Liberty again.

 

[Anti Federalist]

I don't see how that makes any difference.

If they just sold that oil to buyers in the US, and then that freed up private oil companies to increase the number of barrels they sold in China instead of the US by the same amount, the end result is the same isn't it?

It's like, if you're trying to make the water in a pool deeper in the deep end, you don't have to pour the new water in the deep end. No matter where you pour the water, the whole pool gets deeper.

It makes a difference.

The crude oil stored in the SPR is mostly West Texas Intermediate or Louisiana Light Sweet. That is on purpose, as those crude blends are among the easiest to refine and contain the largest percentages of "high" distillates such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel or marine gasoil and compounds of naptha, benzene, toulene, xylene and others, all of which are critical to running a modern military force and keeping an industrial nation going.

It is therefore more expensive.

If I'm reading these reports correctly, it appears that the SPR oil was "bundled" in large trades of mixed crudes, including "crud" crude like Venezuelan Orinoco Heavy, thus not only reducing the price to our enemy, but providing the Chi-Coms with a valuable source of light, sweet crude.

This is their reward for releasing a man made bioweapon that has killed millions of American citizens.

 

[Invisible Man]

If I'm reading these reports correctly, it appears that the SPR oil was "bundled" in large trades of mixed crudes, including "crud" crude like Venezuelan Orinoco Heavy, thus not only reducing the price to our enemy, but providing the Chi-Coms with a valuable source of light, sweet crude.

If this is the case, and it was thus sold at lower than the market price, then that is the crucial factor.

 

[acptulsa]

If this is the case, and it was thus sold at lower than the market price, then that is the crucial factor.

It's a pretty damned crucial factor regardless of the price at which it was sold, Beltway "Libertarian".

In any case, it ensures that particular market sees some of that commodity.

 

[Invisible Man]

It's a pretty damned crucial factor regardless of the price at which it was sold, Beltway "Libertarian".

The price at which it was sold is a crucial factor regardless of the price at which it was sold?

Pardon?