Originally Posted by abolt300
Originally Posted by jmj120
My opinion is it should be used only for military or national defense emergencies
It has become a political tool.
Y'all do realize that the IEA was the one that decided to do this latest 400 million barrel "world" SPR drawdown, and it wasn't just Trump deciding to do it on a whim to help with gas prices, like some simpletons like to think. The IEA has 32 UN member countries that participated. Once again, we have one of the largest reserves so when the US once again gives our proportionate share, we give more than the rest of the members, the majority of which hate us. I guess Trump could have said, "no, we are not participating" but he was not the one that made the call on the release/drawdown. I'm guessing that we are obligated by treaty to participate.

"The latest IEA-requested Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) drawdown was a historic global release of 400 million barrels of oil and refined products. This coordinated action among 32 IEA member nations was triggered by global supply disruptions. As part of this global effort, the United States released 172 million barrels from the U.S. SPR"
Why didn’t you include the important part of that news story?

U.S. President Donald Trump requested that the International Energy Agency (IEA) conduct a coordinated release of oil from strategic reserves to combat soaring energy prices

But what does a simpleton know?