Three benchmark grades, one production cartel, US shale, and a US strategic reserve together set the oil price that drives inflation, trade balances and geopolitics.
Emergency crude oil stockpiles held by governments worldwide under IEA rules, led by the US SPR, which acts as the primary global buffer against oil supply shocks.
full dossier ›Trump's pledge to fill the reserve to 700m+ barrels collides with $171m of actual funding and ~$100m of needed cavern repairs, even as ~170m barrels lent out in the war await repayment