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发帖数: 11530 | 1 Trump taps emergency U.S. oil reserve after Harvey
by Matt Egan and Betsy Klein @CNNMoneyInvest
August 31, 2017: 2:28 PM ET
The Trump administration has tapped an emergency stockpile of crude oil in
response to the major refinery outages in the U.S. Gulf Coast caused by
Hurricane Harvey.
The Energy Department said it will send 500,000 barrels of oil from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the Phillips 66 (PSX) refinery in Lake
Charles, Louisiana.
The oil reserve is made up of a complex of tanks and deeper underground
storage caverns. It can hold more than 700 million barrels of oil, making it
the largest emergency oil reserve in the world.
The move is aimed at shielding Americans from higher gasoline prices, which
have begun to rise sharply due to a shortage of gasoline caused by refinery
shutdowns, port closures and oil production outages.
Officials said the refinery, which hasn't been shutdown by the historic
flooding, requested the release of emergency oil. Warren Buffett's Berkshire
Hathaway (BRKA) is the largest shareholder in Phillips 66.
The Energy Department said it will "continue to provide assistance as deemed
necessary," including more potential drawdowns from the emergency reserve.
The decision to tap the oil reserve follows the shutdown of the Colonial
Pipeline, which normally carries a huge amount of gasoline between Houston
and the East Coast. The key pipeline was knocked offline because there isn't
enough gasoline flowing for it to operate.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry noted the Colonial Pipeline outage is driven by
limited gasoline supplies, not damage to the pipeline itself.
"I don't know how long it's going to take to get those (refineries) back on,
" Perry told reporters on Thursday aboard Air Force Two with Vice President
Mike Pence.
Matt Smith, director of commodities research at ClipperData, said the
emergency stockpile release is likely aimed at helping to fill up the
Colonial Pipeline.
"There's a huge logistical challenge going on at the moment because those
refineries up and running don't have access to the oil they need," said
Smith.
The Energy Department is also trying to ease fears about a severe gasoline
shortage.
"This release sends a message to the market that the U.S. government is
willing to address any kind of supply shortages. There's definitely a
psychological impact," said Joe McMonigle, a former Energy Department
official who now serves as senior energy analyst at the Hedgeye Potomac
Research Group.
The widespread disruption in the U.S. Gulf Coast has lifted the average
price of a gallon of gasoline by 10 cents to $2.449 on Thursday, according
to AAA.
Related: Harvey to be one of the most expensive natural disasters ever
McMonigle predicted the Energy Department will take more steps because
refinery recoveries are likely to be slow.
Historic flooding caused by Harvey knocked one-fifth of the nation's
refining capacity offline, according to S&P Global Platts. Thirteen oil
refineries in Texas have shut down or are in the process of closing, while
others are operating at reduced rates.
"The situation on the ground is even worse than what is being reported. This
may not be a quick turnaround. it could take some time for the industry to
get back on its feet," McMonigle said.
The U.S. dipped into the strategic oil reserve during other disruptions,
such as the 2011 turmoil in Libya and during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Earlier this year, President Trump proposed selling off half of the oil
sitting in the reserve to raise revenue. Some analysts at the time
criticized the proposal as risky. |
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