Biden was terrified! The U.S. is considering buying less than $80 of oil, its reserves are at its lowest level since 1984, but it opposes Trump doing so?

U.
S.
President Joe Biden's administration is considering replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when oil prices fall below $80 a barrel, as U.
S.
oil reserves are currently at their lowest level
since 1984.
Just two years ago, Democrats prevented former President Donald Trump from filling oil reserves at a level even lower than that price
.

Biden ordered the release of a record 180 million barrels of oil from reserves in March in an attempt to curb supply shortages and the rapid rise
in U.
S.
gasoline prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
According to people familiar with the matter, the U.
S.
government is now seeking to protect U.
S.
oil production growth and prevent crude oil prices from plummeting
.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and weighed on global oil demand, Trump sought to stabilize the oil industry
in March 2020.
Oil prices at the time were about $24 a barrel, and Republicans proposed spending $3 billion to fill reserves
.
But the idea turned into a political football in massive negotiations over trillions of dollars in coronavirus relief, with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer declaring they had blocked "bailouts of big oil
.
"

The decision effectively cost the U.
S.
billions of dollars in potential profits, meaning a tens of millions of barrels less oil at Biden's disposal, designed to counter price spikes
.
More
oil will also be needed to fill reserves than it did two years ago.
In March 2020, reserves were 727 million barrels and reserves were 634 million barrels
.
After a record decline last week, reserves fell to 442 million barrels, the lowest level
since 1984.

(Source: Bloomberg)

After Bloomberg reported that the White House plans to replenish emergency reserves, benchmark U.
S.
oil futures prices rose nearly $3 a barrel
.
The contract closed near a one-week high of $87.
31 on Tuesday, extending its year-to-date gain to 16 percent
.

Crude oil futures prices closed higher on the 14th, mainly due to market speculation that the Biden administration may consider replenishing U.
S.
oil reserves at $80 per barrel, and although crude oil inventories rose last week, gasoline supply fell
.
Traders also measure the International Energy (IEA) monthly report
.
In the report, the IEA lowered China's crude oil demand outlook and also predicted that oil demand from European power plants would rise, as European power plants switched from natural gas to oil
after Russia cut off natural gas transmission from the Nord Stream-1 pipeline.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that U.
S.
crude inventories rose 2.
4 million barrels and gasoline inventories fell by 1.
8 million barrels last week, but distillate oil inventories rose by 4.
2 million barrels
.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced later Tuesday that crude oil supply increased by 6 million barrels
last week.

According to the S&P Global Commodity Insights survey, analysts expect crude oil inventories to increase by 1.
2 million barrels last week, gasoline inventories to fall by 1.
5 million barrels and distilled oil inventories to fall by 800,000 barrels
.
Crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, and the New York Mercantile Exchange Delivery Center edged down 200,000 barrels this week, while inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell 8.
4 million barrels to 434.
1 million barrels
, EIA said.

Tariq Zahir, a manager at Tyche Capital Advisors, said there could be some other factors affecting crude in the coming days and weeks: a potential Gulf Storm, and the U.
S.
government's desire to fill the SPR
at $80 a barrel.
"A potential storm could disrupt Gulf production, while the U.
S.
government's actions have put oil prices on the $80 level to support the floor," Zahir said
.
He said a potential strike by U.
S.
railroad workers could also support oil prices, but is unlikely to be a major
support.
"We may have supply chain problems, which could be a thrust for energy
.
"

Bloomberg reported that if crude oil falls to $80 per barrel, the US government may begin to backfill the SPR
.
Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING, reported: "In addition to backfilling the oil reserves that have been heavily consumed this year, this move can also be used to try to support prices at lower levels while ensuring continued growth
in U.
S.
oil production.
" The release of SPR from the US this year has greatly assisted the market, but the SPR release is expected to end
in October.
”

Meanwhile, the IEA lowered China's oil demand by 400,000 b/d this year in its monthly report, bringing it down to 15 million b/d, down 420,000 b/d
from last year.
For 2023, the IEA is expected to reduce China's demand by 300,000 bpd, but still expects demand to rise to 16 million b/d
as the epidemic restrictions are relaxed.

The IEA noted that soaring natural gas prices in Europe will prompt power plants to switch to crude oil, pushing up oil demand to 700,000 b/d
in the 6 months to March 2023.

Looking back at Wednesday's fall in oil prices, the main US release of the August consumer price index (CPI) higher than expected, not only shattered the market hope that the Fed began to slow down the rate hike, but also greatly increased the likelihood that the Fed will meet next week to raise interest rates by 75 basis points, and some traders even speculated that the Fed will raise interest rates by 100 basis points
.

A spike in the U.
S.
dollar has weighed on dollar-denominated commodities, and the Fed's anti-inflation response could slow
energy demand.
Meanwhile, gas prices surged 10 percent on Wednesday and closed higher
for the fifth consecutive session.

Schneider Electric senior commodities analyst Christin Kelley said the market expects U.
S.
natural gas supply to fall below normal again last week, which could provide support, while the EIA will release last week's supply data
on Thursday.

Analysts expect natural gas inventories to increase by about 71 billion cubic feet last week, which would be 11 billion cubic feet
less than the five-year average over the same period, if correctly estimated.

Trump challenges the presidential campaign again and the Political Action Committee faces scrutiny

Former U.
S.
President Donald Trump, who sits on multiple political committees with more than $115 million in funding, has positioned himself as a unique and indomitable force in the Republican Party, and if he launches the presidential race again, he will almost certainly have enough resources to beat his rivals
.

But huge sums of money are also becoming a potential loophole
.
After the U.
S.
Department of Justice issued a grand jury subpoena seeking information about the PAC fundraisers, his main fundraising tool, Save America PAC, is under new legal review
.

(Source: Politico)

The scope of the investigation is unclear, but according to people familiar with the matter who asked to discuss the ongoing investigation anonymously, the grand jury summons and search warrants issued by the Justice Department in recent days have touched on a number of topics, including Trump's political action committee
.
According to one of the people familiar with the matter, the subpoena sought records and testimony and asked at least some recipients what they knew about
the efforts involved in election fraud.

The subpoena also requested a record of communications with Trump allies lawyers who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and conspired to line up fake voters
in battlefield states.
One area of particular concern, the person said, appears to be the "Save America rally" that preceded the January 6, 2021 U.
S
.
Capitol riots.

The investigation is one of several criminal investigations Trump currently faces, including a review of how documents with classification marks ended at
the Lake Manor Club in Palm Beach, Florida.
Whatever the ultimate role of Save America in the investigation, a series of developments have raised concerns about
the PAC's management, how it raises money, and where that money goes.

Trump spokesman Taylor Budovich lashed out at the subpoena, saying the weaponized and politicized Justice Department was casting a blind net to intimidate and suppress Republicans
fighting for his America-first agenda.

While Trump holds more than $115 million in various committees, the vast majority of them are deposited at the PAC
.
According to fundraising records, the PAC ended July with more than $99 million in cash on hand, more than the Republican and Democratic National Campaign Committees combined
.

In the months since, Trump has continued to raise small donations, much to the dismay
of other Republicans who have struggled to raise money ahead of the November midterm elections.
Save America is set to lead PACs with the aim of getting politicians to raise money
for other events.
But these groups are often used by potential candidates to fund political travel, voting and staff as they "test the waters" ahead of a potential presidential campaign
.
These accounts can also be used to make donations to other candidates and party organizations, helping potential candidates build political capital
.

Most of the money Trump has amassed was raised in days and weeks after the 2020 election, and he lost to Democrat Biden
.
It was then that Trump supporters were bombarded with a steady stream of emails and text messages, many containing all capital letters and blatant lies about the theft of the 2020 elections, raising money
for the "Election Defense Fund.
"

But no such fund ever existed, and instead Trump used the money for other purposes
.
He funded dozens of rallies, paid staff salaries, and used the money to travel as he teased the expected 2024 presidential campaign
.

Other fees are even more unusual, donating $1 million in 2021 to the Conservative Partnerships Institute, a nonprofit that employs Cleta Mitchell and Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, both of whom encouraged Trump to overturn a failed attempt to
overturn the 2020 election.

According to Smithsonian Institution spokeswoman Linda St.
Thomas, a $650,000 "charitable donation" was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in July to help fund portraits of Trump and the former first lady, which will one day hang in the National Portrait Gallery
.

Much of the money is also used to fund another type of defense fund, paying for the legal bills of Trump's close friends and aides who were asked to testify
before the committee on Jan.
6.
Overall, Trump has spent at least $8 million
on "legal advice" and "legal fees" at least 40 law firms since the riots, according to an analysis of campaign financial disclosures.

After a congressional committee began investigating the cause of the attack, it was unclear how much of the money was used to pay for legal fees for
employees.
But at least $1.
1 million has been paid to Elections LLC, founded
by former Trump White House ethics attorney Stefan Passantino, based on campaign finance and business records.
An additional $1 million was paid to a legal trust
located at the same address as the Pasantino Company.

Records show that as of July, the funding had distributed about $750,000 to congressional candidates, in addition to $150,000
to state candidates for public office.
Given that election season is in full swing, Trump is expected to increase his political spending, though it's unclear how much
the former president, known for his frugality, will eventually agree to spend.