Why does the United States maintain a large oil reserve?

NEW YORK, NY (CNN) – Three days before Christmas 1975, US President Gerald Ford signed a law to create the first emergency crude oil reserve in the United States, after the country was shocked by an oil embargo a few years ago. years

At that time, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) controlled the global supply of crude oil. Today, the United States is one of the world's largest producers and a major exporter, not just an oil importer.

Nevertheless, the United States still retains its oil reserves, with strategic oil reserves of 645 million barrels, making it the largest oil reserves in the world.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday authorized the use of oil emergency reserves after the weekend attacks against two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, which affected Saudi Arabia's energy production. and caused a drop of about 5% in the global supply of oil, leading to higher prices.

The strategic reserve includes four locations along the Texas Gulf and Louisiana coasts, which have deep underground storage caverns between 2000 and 4000 feet below surface. The largest oil reserve ever held by the strategic reserve was 727 million barrels in 2009.

Only the President of the United States can make an order authorizing the use of strategic oil reserves, so far only three times.

The last strategic reserve was last used in June 2011, when civil strife in Libya destabilized world oil exports. The US government, worried about supply disruptions, in a fragile global economy still recovering from a recession. Wholesale – sell 30 million barrels.

He also used strategic reserves in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the country's oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. The first use dates back to 1991, when the United States attacked Iraq during the second Gulf War.

No oil extracted from strategic reserves can give an immediate boost to global supply.