As Americans struggle to pay for gas, the politicization of our oil reserves is the last thing we need. Let’s pray.

From The Federalist. Gasoline prices will soar after the Democrats’ midterm shellacking. Why? Power. For many politicians, as well as parties, the point of power is power.

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Who is praying on the wall?

Biden campaigned against American oil and gas, saying he would “end fossil fuels” with no more pipelines and “no more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling, including offshore, no ability for the industry to continue to drill.” …

Meanwhile, Biden’s allies in woke finance are working to dry up the capital needed to find more oil and gas and then produce and refine it. As a result, America is producing about 1 million barrels a day less oil than it did under former President Donald Trump (before the onset of Covid-19).

Strategic Reserve Low

Coincidentally, that 1-million-barrel shortfall is about the same amount of oil Biden has been withdrawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Congress created the SPR in 1975 after the oil shocks of the 1970s led to gas lines and stagflation. Situated underground in giant caverns associated with salt domes in Louisiana and Texas, the SPR was rapidly filled to about 600 million barrels by 1990. It reached its maximum capacity of 714 million barrels during the Great Recession …

But since Biden’s election — and especially since the White House announced an accelerated draw down of the SPR on Nov. 23, 2021 — the oil in the SPR has plummeted to levels not seen since 1984, shortly after the storage caverns became operational. …

Presidential Approval Tied to Gas Prices

Not surprisingly, an administration whose chief declared war on American-made energy well before inauguration presided over a steady increase in the price of gasoline.

By November, with the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline having increased steadily over the past 11 months from $2.20 to $3.40, or 55 percent, the Biden team was panicking as the presidential job approval deficit hit a negative 12.1 percentage points. The irony, of course, is that the price of energy was merely reacting to Biden’s own policies. …

Thus, on Nov. 23, 2021, as Biden’s approval ratings had precipitously declined for six months, the White House announced a greatly accelerated drawdown of the SPR. Almost immediately, there was relief at the pump and the Biden job approval rating saw a jolt upward — for a month. …

Using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Politically

So, where do we go from here? If Biden has been drawing down the SPR for crass partisan purposes, transmogrifying the Strategic Petroleum Reserve into the Strategic Political Reserve, what might he do after Nov. 8 when the Democrats may lose both the House and the Senate as well as some governorships and state legislative chambers?

To see how Biden might use the awesome, market-shaping power of the SPR, we must look at how it’s been abused so far: not as a store of energy to mitigate the effects of another Arab oil embargo, nor in the event of a major war, but to purchase political popularity. …

Should the SPR draws stop, or … shift back to refilling the reserves, what would happen? Oil prices would immediately spike, with gasoline prices following quickly. Democrats would start attacking “greedy Big Oil” and would introduce so-called windfall profits taxes, propose a ban on the export of American oil and gas, and call for hearings on oil industry collusion. …

Lastly, as gasoline prices pushed through $6, $7, or even $8 a gallon, Biden’s team would be at first quietly, then openly, touting the “transition” to green energy. “Don’t want to pay $8 a gallon for gas? Buy an electric car (with a made-in-China battery)!” they’d say. …

What do you think of Biden’s usage of the SPR? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

(Excerpt from The Federalist. Photo Credit: Getty Images)