Disclosure: 640 million barrels of oil are buried underground in the US

So, how much, how and under what circumstances are the strategic oil reserves in the United States? An article published by an American media decrypted the strategic oil reserves in the United States. British media said that after the attack on Saudi Arabia's important oil infrastructure, U.S. officials had been talking about using large numbers of satellite photos of the emergency oil reserves stored in Saudi Arabia to show that Saudi Arabia's oil facilities were attacked and emitted thick black smoke. (AP) As oil prices soared, U.S. President Trump tweeted that they could use the oil to "maintain adequate market supply," according to the BBC website on September 16. He refers to more than 640 million barrels of oil stored in Underground Salt Caves in Texas and Louisiana. The idea of holding these "strategic reserves" dates back to the 1970s. Reported that all members of the International Energy Agency must hold reserves equivalent to 90 days of oil imports, but the United States holds the largest emergency reserves in the world. Why should we set up such a reserve?

In the early 1970s, after the oil embargo in Middle East countries led to the soaring global oil prices, American politicians first put forward the idea of oil reserve.

The members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, refused to export oil to the United States on the grounds that the United States supported Israel in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. In October of that year, the war lasted only three weeks. But the embargo, which also targeted other countries, continued until March 1974, quadrupling global oil prices from about $3 a barrel to nearly $12. Some of the symbolic images of the crisis are the growing queue of cars at gas stations in the affected countries. The U.S. Congress passed the Energy Policy and Protection Act in 1975, establishing strategic oil reserves to prevent another major supply problem. What's in reserve? At present, there are four places where oil is stored: near Freeport and Winnie, Texas, Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Lake Baton Rouge. Each site has several artificial Salt Caves 1 kilometer underground for oil storage. It's much cheaper and safer than putting oil in a tank on the ground - the chemical composition of salt and geological pressure can prevent oil spills. The Rock Salt Caves in the United States are filled with crude oil. (BBC) The largest storage site in Brian Mund near Freeport has an oil storage capacity equivalent to 254 million barrels of oil. The site said Sept. 13 that 644.8 million barrels of oil were stored in the caves. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, Americans use an average of 20.5 million barrels of oil a day in 2018 - which means there is enough oil to keep the U.S. running for 31 days. How does it work? According to the law signed by President Gerald Ford in 1975, the President can authorize the release of oil reserves only if "energy supply is severely disrupted". Physical restrictions mean that only a small amount of oil can be transported out of the cave every day, which means that even if the president has the right to release oil, it will take nearly two weeks for the oil to go on the market. Moreover, the oil is not refined. It needs to be processed into fuel before it can be used in cars, ships and airplanes. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told Consumer News and Business Channel on September 16 that after the attacks in Saudi Arabia, it was "a bit premature" to talk about the use of oil reserves. The last time reserves were used was in 2011, when damage caused by the so-called "Arab Spring" prompted IEA Member States to release 60 million barrels of oil to mitigate the impact of disruptions in energy supply. Nevertheless, the United States has sold large quantities of oil on several occasions. In 1991, President George W. Bush authorized the use of reserves during the Gulf War, while his son, George W. Bush, allowed 11 million barrels of oil to be sold after Hurricane Katrina. But at a time when energy production is booming in the United States, the usefulness of keeping such a huge reserve is questioned. Some in Washington even suggested that it should be abolished altogether. A 2014 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Bureau said that this could reduce the price of oil purchased by U.S. consumers at gas stations. In 2017, the Trump administration offered to sell half of its reserves to help solve the federal deficit. During President Bill Clinton's presidency, the United States sold 28 million barrels of oil in 1997 as part of a deficit reduction initiative.