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Buyer Beware: The Asymmetric Impact of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on Crude Oil Prices

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  • Reid B. Stevens
  • Jeffery Y. Zhang

Abstract

Have U.S. oil market policy interventions succeeded in lowering the price of crude oil? This paper uses a structural vector autoregression model of the U.S. oil market to estimate the effect of purchases and releases by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Unanticipated releases from the SPR have no measurable impact on oil prices, but unanticipated purchases for the SPR raise oil prices by about 1 percent.These results are robust to identification using external instruments.

Suggested Citation

  • Reid B. Stevens & Jeffery Y. Zhang, 2021. "Buyer Beware: The Asymmetric Impact of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on Crude Oil Prices," The Energy Journal, , vol. 42(6), pages 69-90, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:42:y:2021:i:6:p:69-90
    DOI: 10.5547/01956574.42.6.rste
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Lutz Kilian, 2008. "Exogenous Oil Supply Shocks: How Big Are They and How Much Do They Matter for the U.S. Economy?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 216-240, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chan, Ying Tung & Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Dayong, 2025. "The Macroeconomics of Strategic Petroleum Reserve," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

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