Energy Sec. Wright Slams Biden for Draining Strategic Petroleum Reserve So Fast
Wright is overseeing the SPR refill-and-repair. Meanwhile, the Dept. of Interior gives the thumbs-up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day production in the Gulf of America.
What is the energy outlook for the country?
It seems a bit brighter than since January 2025, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a “national energy emergency” and directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to prioritize refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to its full capacity, which is approximately 714 million barrels.
At the time, the reserve held around 394 million barrels-about 55% of capacity-after historic drawdowns during the Biden administration. As a reminder, in April of 2024, Biden’s administration refused to purchase the oil to refill it.
However, the nation is still facing some issues related to Biden’s destructive and senseless energy priorities.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently estimated it would take $20 billion and years to accomplish Trump’s goal of refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its maximum capacity.
It will take years to refill the reserve, the spokesperson said, and a request that size to Congress is not something the department would do immediately in one request given the other budget concerns of the department, which also manages the nation’s arsenal of nuclear weapons.
The SPR is the world’s largest emergency crude oil stockpile with capacity to store about 727 million barrels and currently holds about 395 million barrels. The estimated $20 billion would only be enough to buy about 301 million barrels of U.S. crude at today’s prices, and would bring the reserve to less than 700 million barrels.
Wright had told Bloomberg News in an interview he was seeking $20 billion which would restore holdings “just close to the top.”
Refilling the SPR faces an additional challenge. During a CNBC interview on “Power Lunch,” Wright explained that the reserve had been drained so quickly that the facilities were damaged.
“We are refilling the reserve now. We will continue to refill the reserve the whole time I’m in office.
“That was just such an irresponsible action, to drain that reserve so quickly for electoral reasons.
“And in fact, it was drained so fast, it did some damage to the facilities. And so, right now, we only can fill two of the four major salt caverns we have, so we are doing repair work on the other two.
“We’re slowly filling the other two, and I’m trying to get some funds through Congress that’ll give us a longer-term runway to fill the strategic petroleum reserve at the fastest rate we can.”
Meanwhile, the refilling process will likely be helped along with an assist from the Interior Department, which s helping to increase oil production in the Gulf of America by 100,000 barrels per day.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that all offshore oil drilling in the Gulf will now be able to tap multiple reservoirs at the same time — and at far higher pressure than previously allowed — to immediately boost output by around 10%.
The department cited a September 2023 study from the University of Texas that found that over the next 30 years, up to 61% more oil can be produced than currently.
“This is a monumental milestone in achieving American energy dominance,” Burgum said in a statement.
“We’re delivering more American energy, more efficiently, and with fewer regulatory roadblocks. That means lower costs, more jobs, and greater security for American families and businesses as President Trump promised.”
So, our energy situation is brightening…and appears to be much better than “Net Zero” Europe is currently experiencing.
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Comments
Joe Biden or probably more accurately the men behind the curtain are enemies of the US and her Constitution in all ways all the time. The will weaken us in anyway that they can.
Is there anything that Biden did right?? Asking for me.
made us laugh when he wore the Trump hat?
1) He decided not to run for a second term.
2) He forced Kamala Harris down the Democrat’s throat.
That’s it. Otherwise it was four years of hot needles under our fingernails.
He threw his own second term to the Republicans.
Is there anything that any Dhimmi-crat President did right, in the last fifty years?
I kind of like all the droning Obama did.
I’m hoping that increased pumping in the gulf doesn’t further destroy the beaches and marine life
The Trlexas beaches are filled with oil deep in the sand , you have to clean your feet from the black oil on the bottom.
I think there was an attempt to clean the beaches up, but the water is nasty
I got an urinary infection which took me 2 years to heal my urethra that had ulcers all up and down its length.. from literally 20 minuets in the gulf by Corpus Christi
Haven’t been back eclxcept to South Padre, the supposed cleanest beach and water, some waves, but I don’t go over my knees
Lots of Bull sharks there too
I hope your UTI gets better otherwise drill baby drill.
Ouch.
To gonztox,
Come to Florida.
Our beaches are pristine.
Due to the importance of beach tourism, we have no offshore oil drilling.
The west coast of Florida does have bull sharks.
trump wanted to refill it all when the price was $25 a barrel and the dems said no
fjb stole the election and when the price was around $75/bbl….dems bought
So fast?
How about AT ALL.
Its the freaking STRATEGIC petroleum reserve.
Not the ‘lol try to bring down gas prices because Democrats are screwing the economy’ petroleum reserve.
Former Citizen-Soldier here, Now in O&G (Upstream in ND then TX). We have a lot of the Texas Tea left. Refilling the SPR is crucial, but withdraw so much of it like the dems did, makes this task difficult. Storing oil in salt dome caverns, exposing the piping and pumps to corrosive elements.
We really should enact stringent laws to ensure the SPR is ONLY used for wartime emergencies (as in fueling the US Military, and ONLY the US Military).
Too much bipartisan support for ability to raid it. This allows Congress to point to WH and say ‘hey the WH doesn’t care that gas prices are high b/c they won’t release SPR’ instead of taking accountability for their own complicity in creating a bad regulatory framework to oil/gas production and refining as strategic Nat Sec issues. Much easier to pass the buck.
The only thing that the vile, stupid and evil Dhimmi-crat apparatchiks/thieves can be relied upon to do is to destroy, pilfer and impoverish.
And, kill.
Biden deserved to be impeached, convicted and then criminally prosecuted for his illegal draining of the SPR. Traitor Joe used an emergency reserve as a Democrat campaign slush fund – and didn’t just use it for that illegal purpose, but sucked it dry, leaving America vulnerable if something had happened that it would have been needed for. It was one of the worst crimes in American history. Truly.
There are many things that Dems should be prosecuted for.
If all of the 100,000 barrels per day from the GoA went to the SPR, it would take 8.8 years to fill it (unless my arithmetic is flawed).
“Wright explained that the reserve had been drained so quickly that the facilities were damaged.”
No matter how fast he consumed it, Hunter just couldn’t get to that high.
why is the US drilling up oil paying market prices, when they could drill oil wells cap them and hold them in reserve, I guess you can follow the money.