The G-7 SPR Bluff: Why 300 to 400 Million Barrels Changes Nothing

The arithmetic of strategic reserves against a physical supply crisis that dwarfs every tool in the toolkit

The G-7 is a group of Atlantic basin countries proposing to release Atlantic basin barrels at Atlantic basin draw rates to solve a Pacific basin crisis. The arithmetic does not work even if the politics did.

300 to 400 million barrels is a number designed to move headlines for 48 hours. It is not a number designed to move molecules to where they are nee…