‘Gift from Venezuela’: Trump says oil deal will help refill US strategic reserve

Donald Trump said the process of refilling the reserve would begin shortly US President Donald Trump on Sunday said oil secured under a recently announced deal with Venezuela would be used to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which has been drawn down sharply in recent years amid global supply disruptions and high fuel prices.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the process of refilling the reserve would begin shortly, describing the Venezuelan oil as a “Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States.”“One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuelan Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied,” Trump wrote.“The ‘topping out’ process will begin very shortly, and is a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States”, he added.SPR near a 44-year lowThe Strategic Petroleum Reserve held about 290 million barrels of oil as of August 21, near a 44-year low, according to Reuters.The stockpile was drawn down under both the Biden and Trump administrations in response to global supply disruptions, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict with Iran.It remains unclear how quick...