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from the that-worked-out-just-fine-for-the-helium-reserves dept.
President Donald Trump's proposal to sell half of the U.S. strategic oil reserve highlights a decline in the biggest oil user's reliance on imports - and a weaning off OPEC crude - as its domestic production soars.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) SPR-STK-T-EIA, the world's largest, holds about 688 million barrels of crude in heavily guarded underground caverns in Louisiana and Texas. Congress created it in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo caused fears of long-term spikes in motor fuel prices that would harm the U.S. economy.
The White House budget, delivered to Congress on Tuesday, proposes to start selling SPR oil in fiscal 2018, which begins on Oct. 1. Under the proposal, the sales would generate $500 million in the first year and gradually rise over the following years. A release of half the SPR over 10 years equals about 95,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 1 percent of current U.S. output.
Source: Reuters
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:08PM (4 children)
-- https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/trump-advisers-call-for-selling-off-old-assets-to-build-new-infrastructure/2017/05/23/657aa2c6-2f53-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html [washingtonpost.com]
Greece did the same thing:
-- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/19/germans-to-run-greek-regional-airports-in-first-wave-of-bailout-privatisations [theguardian.com]
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2011/12/16/12-ports-and-29-airports-to-be-privatised/ [greekreporter.com]
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/international/14-airports-in-greece-to-be-privatized-in-1-3-billion-deal.html [nytimes.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:14PM (3 children)
If a "private" organization does poorly, it loses money and eventually has its assets placed into more capable hands.
In contrast, if a government does poorly, it demands more money (under penalty of violence) and eventually usurps authority over what was once "private".
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:21PM
Like what happened with the banks?
got it privatize the profits socialize the risk, this is what happens every time you contract out critical functions private entities, they badly and in most cases deliberately bungle everything run up huge debts and leave the public holding the bag every time.
(Score: 3, Informative) by tizan on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:23PM
The problem is they will sell all the profitable airports and leave the non-profitable ones with the gubernmint....making the whole government worse.
So it is not free market at all.....the friends of the politicians are lobbying to get the goodies...if market force is allowed to run such infrastructure totally...you'll get airports and railways in high population density areas only and large swath of middle america will be without infrastructure.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @08:44PM
But if a "private" airport does poorly, it raises landing fees on airlines and boarding fees on passengers and eventually puts that money into more capable hands (their own).
In fact, since airports are generally a local monopoly I can see these private airports raising fees anyway because passengers and airlines don't have many other options.