I fail to see how the current low level at the Strategic Reserves invalidates my commentary. While the US may be having a difficult time of it, and while the reserves may be low, the fact that the US has decided to try to make a large purchase of oil (large in the current context, not in the context of the capacity of the SNR) at a time when oil prices are so high still smells a bit to me. If the US government interest in filling the reserve has remained unchanged, then why didn't they use last year's slight trough in the price of oil to fill the reserve rather than wait until now, when OPEC can announce lower quotas? My comment merely noted the rather strange timing for a purchase of oil for the SNR, and the possibility that India and other nations may be creating their own reserves just adds to the peculiarity of the timing of this decision. I fully agree that it would be an expensive proposition, but the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq are also very expensive propositions, but I believe that the idea is that the long term returns (for oil companies, not for the people of the United States) worth the high expense for tax-payers. I tend to think of a toppling of Chavez, at least in some small sense, as a massive subsidy to US oil companies, searching for low-priced crude. As is evidenced with the extortion tactics that US companies are using to demand lower rents due to the Colombian government, I feel fairly certain that a removal of Chavez at this time would result in more favorable conditions for the export and processing of oil for MNC's. The best thing about it, for MNC's, is that the toppling would be paid for by US tax dollars, not a dime from the companies that would benefit. Just like in Iraq.