If They're Right....

[popeyespappy]

Okay, so I have a question that maybe all of those way smarter than me can answer.

If the US has a ten year supply of oil reserves, and refuses to utilize it for the American people, why are we holding onto it? Clearly, we suffered a crisis back in 2003 when we saw gas prices take a huge hike. In the 12 years since that has happened, prices have only fallen back to just around $2.00 per gallon. It was around $1.20 when the hike started.
I know why the hike happened, what I don't understand is why our government won't release those reserves. Clearly we do get oil from several places that aren't in the middle east. So why the heavy dependence on foreign oil?

Judi I'm curious where the 10 years worth of oil reserves number comes from. Are you talking about oil in the ground or oil already sitting in storage containers? The US's strategic reserves, oil owned by the government already sitting in storage containers, is enough to replace imports for about three months. We've got a shitload in the ground. More than Saudi Arabia. But most of that is shale oil. It is both expensive to extract and a lot worse for the environment to do so. Back to the strategic reserves though three months isn't a lot. Not nearly enough to run the Saudis out of business. Plus most of it is oil we purchased at higher prices than what we can currently buy new for. Selling it right now would be a big economic hit.