GOP Sen. Hoeven: I Wanted to Fill SPR When Oil Was Cheap, Biden Can Only Do That if There’s a Recession

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) stated that the only way President Joe Biden will be able to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is if the country goes into a recession. And pointed to legislation he put forward during the Trump administration to fill up the SPR when oil prices were far lower.

Hoeven said, “And of course, now he’s saying, oh, well, he’ll buy it back cheaper. Well, because he won’t produce more supply, the only chance he has to buy it back cheaper is if our country goes into a recession. And you’ve seen economists now talking about, potentially, in the first and second quarter of next year, having negative GDP growth. So, that hurts — so, you not only hurt Americans with inflation, higher gas prices at the pump, higher prices for everything, energy being a big part of it, then you also put the country into recession. That hurts them again. That is not a solution to get lower oil prices or energy prices. The solution is more production here at home.”

He added, “I actually — during the Trump administration, I put forward legislation to buy back the [SPR] and fill it up at $20 a barrel.”

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