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If the oil reserves run out in July, it's over. (Original Post) no_hypocrisy 4 hrs ago OP
It is to America's inescapable disgrace that the outcome is even an open question at this point. RockRaven 4 hrs ago #1
Is there a source that says the reserves will run out in July? Bluestocking 4 hrs ago #2
Donald Trump dalton99a 4 hrs ago #3
I meant a reliable source Bluestocking 4 hrs ago #4
I had to look it up... sheshe2 4 hrs ago #5
Wow Bluestocking 4 hrs ago #6
With him and his band of incompetents.... sheshe2 3 hrs ago #8
The reserve is what it sounds like, a reserve AZJonnie 3 hrs ago #7

RockRaven

(20,080 posts)
1. It is to America's inescapable disgrace that the outcome is even an open question at this point.
Sun Jun 28, 2026, 07:09 PM
4 hrs ago

This country is truly fucked in the head.

dalton99a

(96,284 posts)
3. Donald Trump
Sun Jun 28, 2026, 07:34 PM
4 hrs ago

“We run out of reserves at about four weeks. You know, there are reserves all over the world, and we would really run out, and there’ll be a time when you wouldn’t be able to get it. It would be bedlam.” - Donald Trump at G7 press conference

sheshe2

(99,078 posts)
5. I had to look it up...
Sun Jun 28, 2026, 07:40 PM
4 hrs ago

America may see actual gasoline shortages by July 4 — and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is running out

Key Points and Summary: China holds approximately 1.4 billion barrels of oil in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve — the largest in the world. The U.S. SPR is now below 375 million barrels and is dropping by 10 to 18 million barrels per week, according to various analyses. Most experts estimate the SPR needs to hold 500 to 700 million barrels to remain effective in mitigating short-term energy disruptions in a country the size of the United States.

-The last shipment of oil from the Strait of Hormuz bound for the U.S. landed in mid-April. Senior National Security Editor Brandon Weichert argues that shortages could begin around July 4.

snip

Sadly, the SPR has sat well below these optimal numbers for years. Now, with Trump’s poorly executed Iran War, the US stands to lose its SPR before the really painful disruptions resulting from this ongoing conflict hit us.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/america-may-see-actual-gasoline-shortages-by-july-4-and-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-is-running-out/ar-AA23T8op

AZJonnie

(4,220 posts)
7. The reserve is what it sounds like, a reserve
Sun Jun 28, 2026, 07:59 PM
3 hrs ago

If it's currently depleting at 10-18M barrels a week and has 370M barrels, the math here suggests it's not going to be literally depleted for 20-37 weeks, that's in a worst case scenario.

It tends to get depleted when there's profits to be taken (i.e. when world prices are high), and refilled when they're low. Frankly, this is really isn't any sort of actual emergency just yet. And given that US domestic production is very close to equal to US daily consumption, there's not any serious danger of 'running out'.

However there's a lot of price arbitrage that happens because while the US exports about 4.5M barrels a day, it also imports around 5M barrels a day. "We" sell off the stuff "we" produce (specifically, the fracked stuff, mostly) that's more valuable to other countries (i.e. they have refineries better geared for it than our own), and import from still other countries (Mexico, Canada, VZ for example) that produce oil that is both 1) cheaper on the world market than what "we" sell, and 2) fundamentally more similar to what the US was producing prior to the fracking boom (and hence what most of "our" refineries are tooled to run, given most of "ours" are 40+ years old).

If the US stocks of the (cheaper) sour stuff that local refineries prefer runs low, and therefore refineries have to switch to burning the sweet stuff that's normally sold off at a profit, it's going to ramp up petrol prices to consumers at the pump. Because of course the oil refiners aren't going to just suck up the loss of profit on their own, they'll make us all feel the pain for the increase in the prices of their feedstocks.

The US is in a financial and geopolitical position such that the worst case scenario is must more 'high prices' than 'literally out' because we can always buy from other countries if we're willing to pay.

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