Joe Biden with Hunter Biden. (Image: USA Today)
The Biden administration in the United States has reportedly sold over a million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a Chinese state-owned company that had received a $1.7 billion investment from BHR Partners, one of the equity firms owned by Hunter Biden. The US Energy Department claims that the action will help American consumers and offset “Putin’s price hike.”
The Energy Department authorised the sale of 950,000 barrels of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Unipec, the trading division of China Petrochemical Corporation, in April. The whole company generally referred to as Sinopec, is owned by the Chinese government. The Biden administration claims that the measure will “help lower energy costs” and “address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump.”
The Biden admin sold one million barrels of oil to a Chinese state-controlled gas giant that continues to purchase Russian oil.
The Energy Department said the move would “support American consumers” and combat “Putin’s price hike.”
Via @CAndersonMO https://t.co/f6vNAeSWYf
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) July 7, 2022
12 of the 126 bids that the Energy Department received were chosen to receive a portion of the offering. One of the 12 companies chosen to purchase 950,000 barrels of crude oil in the “price-competitive sale” was Unipec America, Inc. It is worth noting that the disclosure comes on the heels of a Reuters article revealing that the Biden administration had just released five million extra barrels of crude oil from the strategic reserve to other countries. About a million barrels of the most recent release were sent to China.
The Unipec sale, according to the Biden administration, would help American consumers and the global economy in response to Vladimir Putin’s proxy war against Ukraine and would balance “Putin’s price hike.”
The disclosure regarding the March sale to Sinopec has already sparked calls for a probe. The sale, according to Daniel Turner, executive director of the energy advocacy group Power The Future, needs further scrutiny and investigation.
The Bidens and Sinopec have an older relationship. The private equity company BHR Partners was co-founded in 2013 by Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden. BHR purchased a $1.7 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing in 2015. In 2017, Biden purchased a ten per cent stake in BHR through an LLC named Skaneateles, in which he is a lone owner.
The New York Times was notified by Hunter Biden’s attorney last year that Hunter no longer holds any direct or indirect equity stake in either BHR or Skaneateles. According to information from China’s National Credit Information Publicity System, Skaneateles still owned 10% of BHR as recently as March. On company records in Washington, D.C., Hunter was still listed as the sole proprietor of Skaneateles at the time. The Chinese records may have been accurate or they may have needed to be corrected, but it is unclear. A number of US publications have been questioning the relationships of the Biden family with Chinese companies.
The disclosure regarding the March sale to Sinopec has already sparked calls for a probe. The sale, according to Daniel Turner, executive director of the energy advocacy group Power The Future, needs further scrutiny and investigation.
Connection of Bidens with China
The Bidens and Sinopec have an older relationship. The private equity company BHR Partners was co-founded in 2013 by Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden. BHR purchased a $1.7 billion stake in Sinopec Marketing in 2015. In 2017, Biden purchased a ten per cent stake in BHR through an LLC named Skaneateles, in which he is a lone owner.
Karine Jean-Pierre has absolutely no answer for why Joe Biden left a voicemail for Hunter in 2018 saying he wanted to talk about the Biden family business dealings in China. pic.twitter.com/HutCyvZ1DI
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 5, 2022
This is not the first time Joe Biden has been accused of having a conflict of interest because of his son Hunter Biden’s actions. Earlier this year, Iowa and Wisconsin senators disclosed bank documents revealing that Hunter Biden was paid by a corporation with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson delivered the necessary records on the House floor on March 28th and 29th, 2022.
Hunter Biden is already being investigated by the FBI for his financial transactions. According to a 2020 investigation, Hunter Biden has contacts with Chinese persons associated with the Chinese regime. Ye Jianming is one of the men with whom Hunter supposedly had business. Ye Jianming is a Chinese oil magnate who created CEFC and has not been seen since 2018.
Furthermore, Hunter Biden is facing several accusations of probable tax evasion, money laundering, and lobbying for foreign corporations. Hunter Biden’s old laptop sparked outrage as photos and emails tying him to Ukrainian gas giant Burisma got exposed. Russia had shared on March 25, 2022, that Hunter Biden and his investment company Rosemont Seneca had sponsored the Pentagon’s bioweapons research in Ukraine.
Stuart Turley is President and CEO of Sandstone Group, a top energy data, and finance consultancy working with companies all throughout the energy value chain. Sandstone helps both small and large-cap energy companies to develop customized applications and manage data workflows/integration throughout the entire business. With experience in implementing enterprise networks, supercomputers, and cellular tower solutions, Sandstone has become a trusted source and advisor in this space. Stuart has led the “Total Corporate Digital Integration” platform at Sandstone and works with Sandstone clients to help integrate all aspects of modern digital business. He is also the Executive Publisher of www.energynewsbeat.com, the best source for 24/7 energy news coverage and is the Co-Host of the energy news video and Podcast Energy News Beat.
Stuart is on Board Member of ASN Productions, DI Communities
Stuart is guided by over 30 years of business management experience, having successfully built and help sell multiple small and medium businesses while consulting for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Oklahoma State and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.