<story><title>What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?</title><url>https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/strategic-petroleum-reserve1.htm</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>hn_throwaway_99</author><text>Curious, does anyone know if the US govt is filling the reserve now, or even adding capacity? With oil so incredibly cheap right now, now is the absolute best time to be building and expanding our reserves.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>arbuge</author><text>$3B was allocated to precisely this purpose in the stimulus proposal before it passed, but it was later dropped over opposition:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonexaminer.com&amp;#x2F;policy&amp;#x2F;energy&amp;#x2F;bailout-for-big-oil-democrats-eliminate-3b-strategic-petroleum-reserve-purchase-in-pandemic-relief-package&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.washingtonexaminer.com&amp;#x2F;policy&amp;#x2F;energy&amp;#x2F;bailout-for...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;I agree with your assessment and this was a serious mistake in my opinion.&lt;p&gt;There is now however an alternative plan to monetize the remaining open space by leasing it to oil companies that need storage space:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reuters.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;us-global-oil-usa-reserve&amp;#x2F;us-to-lease-space-for-initial-30-million-barrels-of-oil-in-emergency-reserve-idUSKBN21K33E&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.reuters.com&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;us-global-oil-usa-reserve&amp;#x2F;us...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Storage space is in very high demand at this point - to the extent that oil tankers are being used as floating storage:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2020-04-04&amp;#x2F;the-most-profitable-trade-oil-all-over-the-oceans-right-now&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2020-04-04&amp;#x2F;the-most-...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?</title><url>https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/strategic-petroleum-reserve1.htm</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>hn_throwaway_99</author><text>Curious, does anyone know if the US govt is filling the reserve now, or even adding capacity? With oil so incredibly cheap right now, now is the absolute best time to be building and expanding our reserves.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>H8crilA</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s not just the best time to build reserves; there&amp;#x27;s so much oil out there that prices dipped to negative values in some spots (yes, they would pay you to just come and collect the oil; if only you could). Oil is energy, this is similar to the occasional negative electrical energy prices in renewables-rich countries like Germany.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;opinion&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2020-04-02&amp;#x2F;negative-oil-prices-are-already-here-as-storage-fills-up&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&amp;#x2F;opinion&amp;#x2F;articles&amp;#x2F;2020-04-02&amp;#x2F;negati...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>