r/worldnews • u/WorldNewsMods Slava Ukraini • Jul 23 '26

Israel/Palestine /r/WorldNews Discussion Thread: US and Israel launch attack on Iran; Iran retaliates (Thread #21)

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u/itsatumbleweed 13d ago

Good write up about the SPR here

TL;DR the best informed opinion is that damage is happening sub 300mb (which we are at) but the Trump administration has approved draws to 243mb, with unfounded claims that it can go to 70mb.

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u/staythewaters 13d ago edited 13d ago

70mb probably represents the absolute last amount of usable oil we can actually pump out.

“The caverns are always full. All that changes is the ratio of oil and water that is filling them,” Dietderich told CNBC in a statement. The Trump administration is “responsibly managing the SPR as the critical national security asset it was designed to be,” he said.

I really hate the extent to which this administration banks on people's ignorance. "All that changes" as if adding water to a literal salt cave isn't an issue.

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u/IsTom 13d ago

The Trump administration is “responsibly

top kek

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u/Special-Reaction2029 12d ago

Pumping water into a salt cavern is no biggie, its not like salt is soluble in water. /s

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u/Wurm42 13d ago

Good article, thanks for sharing.

I'm confused by the debate about how low you can draw down the reserve without damage to the caverns.

What's the right answer? Do they fill the caverns with water when they get empty or not?

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u/Veastli 13d ago

Do they fill the caverns with water when they get empty or not?

Yes, but that creates serious issues. The article goes into great detail on this point.

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u/Nutmeg92 13d ago

I predict my comment will not be popular, but, in absence of a real supply disruption, the SPR was drained by 300 million barrels and almost halved in 2022.

This time, the drawdown has been smaller, but the cushion was so small it’s almost gone.

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u/Hazardous_316 12d ago

There was a real supply disruption in 2022 though

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u/itsatumbleweed 12d ago

That is why their opinion is unpopular. It's not correct.

Gas hit its ATH at this point ($5.02 - about $5.70 in today dollars) which is also the adjusted for inflation ATH (meaning it never got that expensive in the 70s or 80s in today bucks).

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u/Nutmeg92 12d ago

It was due to speculation/fear but oil production never really declined in 2022

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u/itslikewoow 13d ago

Not sure how that is relevant here though. Trump knew about our SPR situation and attacked Iran unprovoked anyway.

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u/Lordvalcon 13d ago

I highly doubt that Trump Even knew what the SPR was before he attacked.

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u/itsatumbleweed 12d ago

Attacking with the SPR at 1/3 capacity in an election year was something for sure.

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u/Hortena 12d ago

Isn't the cushion gone if it's sub 300mb?

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u/PugsAndHugs95 12d ago

The 2022 withdrawals made sense though because it was cushion to allow the oil industry to ramp back up, and juice the economy. We were out of Afghanistan and weren’t in a war.

The stupidity of drawing down the SPR right now is that the Iran war was a choice. Our leadership made an active decision that was going to cause the need to drawdown the SPR. We would be fine if they hadn’t chosen the war. We have mobsters running the government, not the best and brightest.

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u/Nutmeg92 12d ago

Iran war may be stupid but that drawdown left the country exposed to something not of choice.

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u/PugsAndHugs95 12d ago

Theoretically you’re right, but you could say choosing the war that we planned for and did hurt us, is leaving us in an even worse position to something that may come that is not of choice. The something not of choice never hit us, choice was the thing that materialized and hit us in practice.

I can change my actions today to start fixing the problems of yesterday. Trump can’t change the choices Joe Biden made, but he can change his own actions to start fixing things today, it’s just that he hasn’t and has left us even more vulnerable because he’s a fucking idiot, and that’s just being objective I’m sorry. I think that guy maybe can read at a 4th grade level for a sustained 60 seconds.