A few weeks ago, IIT reported that the USA's oil stockpile, known as the SPR, was becoming seriously depleted due to the Biden administration's decision to sell that oil in order to lower oil's price just ahead of the Congressional mid-term elections.
Now, several petroleum market observers have begun to opine on the wisdom of this rapid depletion of the nation's oil stockpile, and this issue was actively discussed on Twitter in late October, 2022. For example, this tweet (from John Arnold) received 880 likes and about 140 re-tweets:
The SPR is designed for short term supply shocks. $85 WTI [ West Texas Intermediate oil ] with normal time spreads is not indicative of a disrupted [ oil ] market. SPR withdrawals early in '22 were very much warranted. Continuing them diminishes scarce strategic reserves & sends a distorted price signal to [ oil ] producers.
A former oil-and-gas CEO concurred:
Agreed, a good move at $120 [ per barrel of oil ], but not at $85 or less. In fact, $90 -$100 is a good price to incentivize drilling, which is needed; and at that range doesn't cause much pain to consumers.