Oil stocks have become truly strategic

Strategic stock releases designed to alleviate price shocks emanating from disruptions came into their own after the Russia crisis

The world has experienced 20 oil market disruptions over the last 50 years. Up until this decade, the maximum price increase was predictable. Supply losses—or fears of losses—caused those holding stocks to hoard and those who needed stocks to bid aggressively, pushing prices up. Over that span, consuming nations had the option to moderate the price impact of disruptions by drawing down strategic stocks. Their leaders ignored such calls until 2022, when a significant release broke the price rise prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In each of the disruptions before 2022, government officials would say the same thing. For example, in 2019, Brian Hook, US special representative for Iran an