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Oil and refined products analyst Patrick De Haan took Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert to task for her attack on Democratic President Joe Biden for restocking the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), an emergency stockpile of petroleum maintained by the United States Department of Energy (DOE).
The SPR is the largest publicly known emergency supply in the world and the current inventory is displayed on its official website. The United States started the petroleum reserve in 1975 to mitigate future supply disruptions as part of the international Agreement on an International Energy Program, after oil supplies were interrupted during the 1973–1974 oil embargo.
Biden recently announced he would restock the SPR now that oil prices have declined and purchased 3 million oil barrels to restock the reserve, the latest development in a long term strategy announced in March, when his administration released 1 million barrels of oil per day from the reserve for 180 days in an effort to combat spiking gas prices.
A furious Boebert called the move "pathetic" in a post on Twitter, declaring that former Republican President Donald Trump "stocked up our reserves at record-low prices" and that Biden "emptied it out to get through" the midterm elections.
She added:
"Now he's going to stock it back up at a MUCH higher price."
You can see Boebert's tweet below.
\u201cSo, let\u2019s go over this.\n\nTrump stocked up our reserves at record-low prices.\n\nThen, Biden emptied it out to get through the midterms.\n\nNow, he\u2019s going to stock it back up at a MUCH higher price.\n\nPathetic as usual.\u201d— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1671311175
Boebert's message soon caught the eye of De Haan, whose career has largely concentrated on downstream oil markets, including crude oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
He said Boebert isn't "the best at math," noting that the SPR is currently buying back oil barrels at a significantly lower rate than what it sold them for earlier this year.
He wrote:
"Average selling price $96, including some sales close to $120, and the price today is $75. You're not the best at math."
You can see De Haan's tweet below.
\u201cAverage selling price $96, including some sales close to $120, and the price today is $75. You're not the best at math.\u201d— Patrick De Haan \u26fd\ufe0f\ud83d\udcca (@Patrick De Haan \u26fd\ufe0f\ud83d\udcca) 1671565474
Many have mocked Boebert following De Haan's fact-check.
\u201cI just love it when facts are provided to stupid people.\u201d— jcarrington (@jcarrington) 1671652322
\u201cWhy let facts get in the way of a good story? This is what the @GOP does because they figure no one will check, and, if they do, they\u2019ll just say their facts are #alternatfacts and @GasBuddyGuy is just lying and part of the #Hoax and #FakeNews\u201d— Bob Riley (@Bob Riley) 1671652483
\u201cWhen the experts tell bobo she\u2019s dumber then a box of rocks.\u201d— Laura Savage (@Laura Savage) 1671591709
\u201cThere are none so blind as those who will not see. You are a disgrace to humanity.\u201d— Sherrill Moss (@Sherrill Moss) 1671369909
\u201cYou\u2019re so wrong it\u2019s not even funny\u201d— Cthulhu Jr (@Cthulhu Jr) 1671679608
\u201c@laurenboebert you need to replace your Fisher Price \u201cmath is hard\u201d laptop\u201d— Mark S McCowan\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 (@Mark S McCowan\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7) 1671566616
\u201cLauren isn't best at anything\u201d— Cde Volodymyr (@Cde Volodymyr) 1671568379
\u201cIts crazy that someone holding public office can just straight up lie like this with no repercussions\u201d— Elon Musk\u2019s last emerald (@Elon Musk\u2019s last emerald) 1671569286
Boebert's claim mirrors one Trump made last month when he announced his 2024 presidential campaign.
At the time, Trump said gas prices are "higher than ever" and that his administration “filled up” the SPR only for it to be “virtually drained” by the Biden administration to "keep gas prices lower just prior to the election."
Trump's claim was immediately fact-checked by CNN reporter Daniel Dale, who said the claim—in addition to others Trump made on a slew of other topics—is "wildly incorrect."
Dale said it's "not true" that Trump "filled up" the SPR, noting that the data on the DOE's official website shows "the Reserve had fewer barrels of oil when Trump left office than when he took office." He added that Trump "did propose at one point in his administration that the Reserve be filled up with tens of millions more barrels, but he never secured the funding for it from Congress."
Dale concluded that while Biden had indeed "released a bunch of oil to help keep oil and gas prices down," the SPR is not "virtually depleted" and is "still the world's largest strategic reserve of petroleum."