No because we cannot store large amounts of oil. We can store a few weeks of oil, and that's it. That's why, for example, Putin burned it off: if he doesn't cut supply, he can't store it. But that isn't a Russian problem, that's a global problem. Losses through burnoff are typical in the industry, which is why equipment for large scale burnoff even exists: for various logistical problems. If oil can't be taken out of pumps or refineries, and it's not worth it to take production offline due to restart costs, they just burn it right there. For no useful work.

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squigz 4 days ago | parent [-]

Why can't we store oil? Is it just a matter of we haven't built long-term storage yet due to not needing to, or is there something else?

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adrianN 4 days ago | parent [-]

We can store oil underground for millions of years.

	▲	spwa4 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		... in the sense that we can disable some pumps, yes. If one party agrees to make less money and let everyone else have more, then we can store oil underground for millions of years. In other words: this is absolutely, utterly, completely and totally impossible. What always happens is oil becomes cheaper and all of it sells.