5 ms·

Ana Kasparian examined this right-wing talking point at length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2zIOMp0RSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2zIOMp0RSA She ad

Ana Kasparian examined this right-wing talking point at length: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2zIOMp0RSA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2zIOMp0RSA She addresses additional related misrepresentations from conservative media. One source she cites is here: https://www.factcheck.org/2022/07/u-s-selling-oil-from-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve-to-the-highest-bidding-companies/ https://www.factcheck.org/2022/07/u-s-selling-oil-from-the-s...

puffoflogic 4y ago
I don't understand your point; that factcheck article confirms the accuracy of the statement that the US is selling oil from the strategic reserve to China (among other countries). It provides more context, yes, but it confirms the statement.
- NLPlatypus 4y ago
  It’s a global oil market. If China wants to overpay, so be it.
  - refurb 4y ago
    What do you mean "overpay"? It's a global market with a spot price?
    - boppo1 4y ago
      Yeah and spot was high.
      - formerkrogemp 4y ago
        If you need vital goods to run your day to day operations, you'll be willing to overpay off it means you don't have to shut everything down even more than you've had to do so already. Your net benefit as China might outweigh the cost, even if you must buy anyways. The alternative is shutting down the economy more than has already occurred.
      - refurb 4y ago
        Right, they didn’t overpay, they bought at the market rate? The price they would have paid from any supplier?
roenxi 4y ago
I will save the room 5 minutes, the major points in this video seem to be (a) the speaker doesn't like Marjorie Greene and (b) points out roughly that oil is a commodity, and if released into the market is going to get sold to whoever pays the most. That might be anyone in the world. I do agree - it is a mistake to focus on where the oil is being sold. What is more interesting is that the strategic reserve is not being used strategically. I would argue it is being used ineffectually, the problems here go a bit deeper than what the SPR could possibly cope with. At this rate it is going to run out and not even make a marginal difference.
- philjohn 4y ago
  The GOP lifted the ban on exporting from the SNR, and tacked it onto a "must pass" bill so Obama couldn't veto it. Blame them.
  - propogandist 4y ago
    passing the blame to the party that was in power 7 years ago, for allowing this to become law, vs blaming the current regime that’s unloading SPR to China… an expected coping mechanism from the modern democrat
    - somewhat_drunk 4y ago
      The SPR wasn't unloaded to China. But somehow, I think you already know that.
rmason 4y ago
Had no idea this was political at all or I wouldn't have posted it on here. Seems to me that the strategic reserve should be used to help America only seeing as how tax payers pay for it. If an American oil company wants to sell their own production to China that would be OK. They shouldn't be able to use oil they procure from a release of the strategic preserve in my opinion. We store the oil to help buffer oil prices from interruptions in production.
- robertlagrant 4y ago
  It's talked about by politicians, but it's a perfectly reasonable question outside of that. Calling such questions "right wing talking points" is the only inappropriate politicisation.
- rightbyte 4y ago
  Isn't the reserve just a buffer? I.e. it does not matter if oil is from the reserve or some oil field directly. And you want to rotate it anyway so it does not go bad.
  - ml_basics 4y ago
    Does oil go bad? (Genuine question, I have no idea, but assumed it can just be stored indefinitely)
    - Etheryte 4y ago
      Yes, but the time scale varies widely depending on how it's treated. Gas you get at the pump might start degrading as fast as in a few months, as it's meant for immediate consumption and thus treated less to keep costs down. Gas that's treated for long term storage can go for up to a few years, but that adds extra cost. The main sources of degradation are oxidation and contamination, both from air and impurities. If you can, it makes economic sense to rotate the oil like you might rotate a log file so it's always reasonably fresh.
    - whoooooo123 4y ago
      Refined oil products (e.g. the stuff you put in your car) go "bad" because they evaporate. In particular, different substances within the fuel evaporate at different rates, so over time the "mix" degrades away from the optimal ratio. If you put old, degraded fuel into your car it can damage the engine. You can make fuel last longer by storing it in a cool, dark, airtight place, and there are products you can add to make it last longer, but the general rule is that petrol lasts about 3 months and diesel lasts around 6, or at least that's what I've read. Entropy, sadly, is an immutable and inescapable law of the universe.
akira2501 4y ago
Well.. what _strategic_ goals are we accomplishing with the "strategic petroleum reserve?" To sate the world market for a few days? Or, given the OPEC view, simply provide slight downward pressure on prices for a few weeks?
- fny 4y ago
  That oil was bought around $30 sold at $100-$120 and now can be bought back sub $80. It was an incredibly good trade.
- Spooky23 4y ago
  Obviously the government is taking actions to attack the post COVID price shocks, and has been reasonably successful in that process. Seems pretty strategic as $5/gallon gasoline was really hurting consumers.
refurb 4y ago
Yikes, take a look at the funding of factcheck.org. Is Zuckerberg trying to buy indulgences?
andy_ppp 4y ago
Is there something wrong with this video? It seems pretty factual to me that oil is sold in an open market and companies just sell it to the highest bidder. Using the reserve like this is perfectly reasonable to avoid (more) chaos.
rayiner 4y ago
Just because someone points out facts that happen to be bad for the current administration doesn’t make it a “right wing talking point.” Even in political terms, criticism of a democrat isn’t necessarily aimed at “the right wing,” because the plurality of the population identify as independents.
- mercy_dude 4y ago
  But that is what happens when you watch MSNBC and CNN, and the vice versa when you watch Fox. An entire generation now exists incapable of having intellectual arguments thinking beyond party line just because the people they follow in the media (social and news) continues to drive the argument in terms that is very close to derangement syndromes. Both sides are responsible but one one side is more amplified due to their majority presence in HN.
anonu 4y ago
Why downvote this comment? It's additive to the conversation... Why make it political when the comment is perfectly fine, stating another point of view?
- thepasswordis 4y ago
  Linking to something Ana Kasparian says as if it is insightful is the equivalent to linking to Rudy Giuliana’s podcast, or Donald Trumps twitter clone as if it’s insightful. It’s just absolute hyper hyper hyper partisan nonsense.
jimbob45 4y ago
Ana Kasparian is a partisan left-wing hack. She’d be considered the partisan left-wing hack if her co-host, Cenk Uyghur, didn’t exist. Granted, her video may or may not be factually correct but you might as well get your political coverage from Putin himself if you care this little about where it comes from.

puffoflogic 4y ago

I don't understand your point; that factcheck article confirms the accuracy of the statement that the US is selling oil from the strategic reserve to China (among other countries). It provides more context, yes, but it confirms the statement.

NLPlatypus 4y ago
It’s a global oil market. If China wants to overpay, so be it.
- refurb 4y ago
  What do you mean "overpay"? It's a global market with a spot price?
  - boppo1 4y ago
    Yeah and spot was high.
    - formerkrogemp 4y ago
      If you need vital goods to run your day to day operations, you'll be willing to overpay off it means you don't have to shut everything down even more than you've had to do so already. Your net benefit as China might outweigh the cost, even if you must buy anyways. The alternative is shutting down the economy more than has already occurred.
    - refurb 4y ago
      Right, they didn’t overpay, they bought at the market rate? The price they would have paid from any supplier?

roenxi 4y ago

I will save the room 5 minutes, the major points in this video seem to be (a) the speaker doesn't like Marjorie Greene and (b) points out roughly that oil is a commodity, and if released into the market is going to get sold to whoever pays the most. That might be anyone in the world. I do agree - it is a mistake to focus on where the oil is being sold. What is more interesting is that the strategic reserve is not being used strategically. I would argue it is being used ineffectually, the problems here go a bit deeper than what the SPR could possibly cope with. At this rate it is going to run out and not even make a marginal difference.

philjohn 4y ago
The GOP lifted the ban on exporting from the SNR, and tacked it onto a "must pass" bill so Obama couldn't veto it. Blame them.
- propogandist 4y ago
  passing the blame to the party that was in power 7 years ago, for allowing this to become law, vs blaming the current regime that’s unloading SPR to China… an expected coping mechanism from the modern democrat
  - somewhat_drunk 4y ago
    The SPR wasn't unloaded to China. But somehow, I think you already know that.

rmason 4y ago

Had no idea this was political at all or I wouldn't have posted it on here. Seems to me that the strategic reserve should be used to help America only seeing as how tax payers pay for it. If an American oil company wants to sell their own production to China that would be OK. They shouldn't be able to use oil they procure from a release of the strategic preserve in my opinion. We store the oil to help buffer oil prices from interruptions in production.

robertlagrant 4y ago
It's talked about by politicians, but it's a perfectly reasonable question outside of that. Calling such questions "right wing talking points" is the only inappropriate politicisation.
rightbyte 4y ago
Isn't the reserve just a buffer? I.e. it does not matter if oil is from the reserve or some oil field directly. And you want to rotate it anyway so it does not go bad.
- ml_basics 4y ago
  Does oil go bad? (Genuine question, I have no idea, but assumed it can just be stored indefinitely)
  - Etheryte 4y ago
    Yes, but the time scale varies widely depending on how it's treated. Gas you get at the pump might start degrading as fast as in a few months, as it's meant for immediate consumption and thus treated less to keep costs down. Gas that's treated for long term storage can go for up to a few years, but that adds extra cost. The main sources of degradation are oxidation and contamination, both from air and impurities. If you can, it makes economic sense to rotate the oil like you might rotate a log file so it's always reasonably fresh.
  - whoooooo123 4y ago
    Refined oil products (e.g. the stuff you put in your car) go "bad" because they evaporate. In particular, different substances within the fuel evaporate at different rates, so over time the "mix" degrades away from the optimal ratio. If you put old, degraded fuel into your car it can damage the engine. You can make fuel last longer by storing it in a cool, dark, airtight place, and there are products you can add to make it last longer, but the general rule is that petrol lasts about 3 months and diesel lasts around 6, or at least that's what I've read. Entropy, sadly, is an immutable and inescapable law of the universe.

akira2501 4y ago

Well.. what _strategic_ goals are we accomplishing with the "strategic petroleum reserve?" To sate the world market for a few days? Or, given the OPEC view, simply provide slight downward pressure on prices for a few weeks?

fny 4y ago
That oil was bought around $30 sold at $100-$120 and now can be bought back sub $80. It was an incredibly good trade.
Spooky23 4y ago
Obviously the government is taking actions to attack the post COVID price shocks, and has been reasonably successful in that process. Seems pretty strategic as $5/gallon gasoline was really hurting consumers.

refurb 4y ago

Yikes, take a look at the funding of factcheck.org. Is Zuckerberg trying to buy indulgences?

andy_ppp 4y ago

Is there something wrong with this video? It seems pretty factual to me that oil is sold in an open market and companies just sell it to the highest bidder. Using the reserve like this is perfectly reasonable to avoid (more) chaos.

rayiner 4y ago

Just because someone points out facts that happen to be bad for the current administration doesn’t make it a “right wing talking point.” Even in political terms, criticism of a democrat isn’t necessarily aimed at “the right wing,” because the plurality of the population identify as independents.

mercy_dude 4y ago
But that is what happens when you watch MSNBC and CNN, and the vice versa when you watch Fox. An entire generation now exists incapable of having intellectual arguments thinking beyond party line just because the people they follow in the media (social and news) continues to drive the argument in terms that is very close to derangement syndromes. Both sides are responsible but one one side is more amplified due to their majority presence in HN.

anonu 4y ago

Why downvote this comment? It's additive to the conversation... Why make it political when the comment is perfectly fine, stating another point of view?

thepasswordis 4y ago
Linking to something Ana Kasparian says as if it is insightful is the equivalent to linking to Rudy Giuliana’s podcast, or Donald Trumps twitter clone as if it’s insightful. It’s just absolute hyper hyper hyper partisan nonsense.

jimbob45 4y ago

Ana Kasparian is a partisan left-wing hack. She’d be considered the partisan left-wing hack if her co-host, Cenk Uyghur, didn’t exist. Granted, her video may or may not be factually correct but you might as well get your political coverage from Putin himself if you care this little about where it comes from.