Something for your Espresso: Biden sippin’ luxury OJ in the SPR trial balloon?

Morning from Europe.
It was an eventful day in energy markets yesterday as Brent spiked above 95$ a barrel before the Biden administration apparently released a trial balloon around considering emptying the SPR fully.
Our interpretation is that the Biden administration is trying to test markets here and failed miserably in getting a bearish response. Biden needs a new drug (against higher Oil prices) and currently has no dealer.
If Biden wants to counter the oil-deficit (assuming a little less than 2.5mn barrels a day), the SPR will run out of juice in Q1-2024. That does not sound like a feasible solution with the election still almost a year away at that point.
On top of that, there is now ongoing chatter around SPR releases from China, but we struggle to see the incentives for China with 15-16mn barrels a day under effective control (Chinese + Russian production) and the continued massive discount buying Russian Ural oil.
Chart 1: The SPR will be depleted fast if Biden wants to fight Bin Salman
Did the Biden admin send up a trial balloon on the SPR strategy without major success? Meanwhile, energy- and foodflation sadly continues across traded markets. It will not be an easy afternoon for the Fed.
0 Comments