Chapter 734: Utilizing Strategic Oil Reserves

USA, Washington.

A high-level meeting is being held, with advisors and cabinet members attending the meeting.

The Gulf War will start soon.

The multinational forces have all arrived, and the weapons, equipment and supplies are almost ready. The countdown to the deadline for Iraq to withdraw troops stipulated in Resolution 660 has begun.

Everything is going according to the US plan.

No one will doubt the victory of this war, and no one will think that the Gulf War will be like the Vietnam War, which lasted for more than ten years and ended in disgrace.

Now the United States occupies the moral high ground and is absolutely politically correct. In order to facilitate this situation, the United States has paid a considerable price, and even the Soviet Union had no time to care about it because of a major event.

"Sir, this matter cannot continue. The international crude oil price has risen to nearly $60 per barrel, and the domestic production cost has risen sharply. It has not only had a very adverse impact on our US economy, but also affected our financial market. A large amount of funds have left the stock market," the economic advisor said worriedly.

All economic experts believe that the sharp rise in oil prices will make the already difficult development of the US economy even worse.

The consultant in charge of the story is also complaining: "With the crazy rise in international oil prices, a large amount of funds have withdrawn from the story. The stock market has fallen sharply due to serious capital outflows. Only stocks related to crude oil and stocks related to military industry and food are still relatively active, and technology and industrial stocks are seriously affected."

The rise in international oil prices has a great impact on a country's economic development.

Especially for the world's largest oil importer like the United States, a large amount of oil is consumed every day, whether in production or life.

The rise in crude oil prices naturally increases costs!

When the international oil price rises sharply, the production costs of a large number of American industries have risen even more outrageously, and corporate profits have been consumed by the sharp rise in oil costs.

In just a few months, thousands of companies have declared bankruptcy and are undergoing bankruptcy liquidation.

What's more terrifying is that if this continues, there may be more companies that go bankrupt.

The bubble of the Japanese stock market and the real estate market has burst, but American companies have not seized this opportunity. American manufacturing products are still not competitive in the world. The market share is not held by the American manufacturing industry, but by Chinese companies.

"The US economy can no longer withstand the further rise in oil prices. Even the economies of European countries are becoming increasingly sluggish. If it continues, no one can bear such a result. If it is not handled well, perhaps a new round of financial crisis will break out again!" The senior economic adviser was very pessimistic.

Almost most of the military expenditures are invested in the United States.

War can stimulate the US military industry and drive economic development in some ways.

But a lot of profits here are actually squeezed by the cost increase caused by the rise in oil prices.

"And there is one thing we must pay attention to. The Soviet Union's oil pipelines and natural gas pipelines to Europe are already in operation. Europe is getting closer to the Soviet Union. If this continues, once Europe turns to the Soviet Union, it will be disastrous for us in the United States." The senior geostrategic adviser said very seriously.

Europe is the biggest overseas interest of the United States.

The United States has always used the Soviet Union as a threat to unite Europe. NATO is a military organization against the Soviet Union.

The United States is very clear about the importance of Europe.

All other countries and regions overseas are not as important as Europe.

With Europe in hand, the United States is one of the two poles and the hegemon of the world's oceans. Only the Soviet Union can compete with the United States.

If it loses Europe, the United States will just be trapped on the world island and dominate in a corner of the world, just like the United States after the end of World War I.

After all, compared with Asia, Europe and Africa, which are connected together, the United States is just an island in the world, far away from the center of the world.

So in terms of strategy, the United States is actually learning from the United Kingdom.

It's just that compared with the United Kingdom, the United States is not very good at it, and it is actually much worse.

Others showed serious expressions.

After the outbreak of the second oil crisis, Europe discussed with the Soviet Union to build oil and natural gas pipelines. The United States was very opposed to this because it would undoubtedly bring the Soviet Union and Europe closer, which was not in the interests of the United States.

However, European countries have a strong demand because Europe has been scared by the first and second oil crises.

The European economy is sluggish, largely due to rising oil prices and high social welfare.

There is no way to do this.

Europe is closest to the Soviet Union. Socialism even originated in Europe. Europe is deeply influenced by socialist thought.

If we don't provide high social welfare and let the people enjoy social life, maybe the French people will stand up and show their bravery. You know, France is an old revolutionary base in the world. It was the French revolutionaries who put King Louis XVI on the gallows and hanged him alive. France has a revolutionary tradition in its bones.

"In this case, I will approve the use of strategic oil reserves, and let our allies use strategic oil reserves together!" Bush said in a deep voice.

The Gulf War can only be won and not lost.

If we win, it will be good. The United States can gain a lot of benefits from it.

Once we lose, what awaits the United States will inevitably be further decline, and I am afraid it will be even more unable to compete with the Soviet Union.

The public opinion mobilized before the war was surging. If you win, you will get more benefits. If you lose, you will fall more miserably.

So the United States cannot afford to lose this war.

To this end, the United States mobilized 527,000 troops, eight aircraft carriers, more than 200 warships, a large number of aircraft, tanks and missiles, and a large number of high-tech weapons.

"From the 1 billion barrels of strategic oil reserves, 1.5 million barrels will be released to the market every day. If it is not enough, increase it to 2 million barrels per day!" Bush's eyes flashed coldly. Strategic oil reserves are the killer of the United States to regulate oil prices.

After continuous construction of reserve oil depots over the years, the United States' strategic oil reserves have reached 1 billion barrels.

In recent years, the reason why world oil prices have not been able to fall, in addition to the war, is that the United States needs to import a large amount of oil every day. Not only does the United States need to consume a large amount of oil every day, but the United States also buys oil for reserves.

And not only the United States, but also European countries such as Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, and Japan have established strategic oil reserve systems.

The total strategic oil reserves of these countries are much larger than those of the United States.

According to the daily consumption of 17.655 million barrels in the first half of 1990, the current strategic oil reserves of the United States can be used for the national consumption for about 56 days.

Now the United States has decided to use its strategic oil reserves in order to win the victory of the Gulf War and win the hearts of the people.

According to the current oil prices in the market, using strategic oil reserves will only make money and not lose money. When the war is over and the oil price drops, more oil will be imported as strategic oil reserves.