Adjust for inflation, and oil is dirt cheap. Scandalously cheap, considering the chaos that supposedly reigns in global energy markets. But where does the journey go from here? In a sane world, one would take advantage of this lull—refilling strategic reserves while prices hover near the floor, spending as little as possible to secure what still makes civilization run. That’s what prudence would suggest. But we haven’t been a prudent species for quite some time, have we?
Yes, oil prices are low, but they’ve been lower before. And the global backdrop hardly screams “uptrend.” Look at China—a sputtering engine wrapped in shiny statistics. Look at Europe, floating face-down in its self-imposed economic coma. Or the United States, where “job creation” increasingly means part-time gigs, government padding, or corporate make-believe. The macro picture doesn’t paint a renaissance; it paints exhaustion.
The world economy inflated like a parade balloon, puffed up on cheap credit, easy promises, and statistical sorcery. Now, reality is tapping that balloon with a needle. Much of what we’ve called “growth” over the last few decades was nothing but borrowed time and borrowed money—a mirage of productivity disguising stagnation and decay. Sooner or later, the numbers have to reconcile with the facts on the ground. And that reconciliation won’t be gentle.
For oil, this means one thing: don’t expect fireworks. The price may drift, may wobble, but the days of effortless boom are long gone. And yet, even in contraction, reality has a cruel sense of irony. Because if the world ever wants to crawl out of the pit it dug for itself, it will need energy—real energy, reliable energy, not the solar fairy dust and windmill fantasies bureaucrats write reports about.Oil may be cheap, but illusion is expensive. And it’s the illusions we’ll be paying for next.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/10/trump-authorizes-strategic-reserve-refill-as-oil-prices-dip/