Some perspective | Opinion | dailyitem.com

I’d like to offer a bit of perspective to Mr. Modesto’s recent Letter to the Editor that you titled “Weakening our defenses,” regarding the government’s sale of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Mr. Modesto has clearly gotten his “facts” from one or more right-wing sources — the reference to Hunter Biden is the most obvious clue to this.

But, let’s deal with the real facts. Yes, the Biden Administration authorized the release/sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to help reduce the price of gasoline in the US and yes, some of that oil ended up being shipped to China.

What isn’t noted is that “by law, the government is required to sell to the highest bidder, with limited exceptions, such as sanctioned companies.” I’ve put this in quotes as I’m copying from a “Fact Checker” article on July 12 by Glenn Kessler, a columnist for the Washington Post.

Twelve different companies won contracts to buy the oil and many of these companies “are US trading arms of foreign companies,” including Unipec, a subsidiary of the China-owned Sinopec, and there is nothing in US law that prohibits these companies from then exporting the oil Indeed, such oil was also shipped to the Netherlands and India, among other countries.

Oil is a global commodity and what matters is the worldwide supply and not how much is in Union County, in Pennsylvania or even in the US

Rod Elser,

Lewisburg