This has to be one of the more stupid ideas they have floated.  It's not going to fly because operators can only sell oil at the wellhead. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-weighs-paying-drillers-leave-193607108.html   The Energy Department has drafted a plan to compensate companies for sitting on as much as 365 million barrels worth of oil reserves by effectively making that untapped crude part of the U.S. government’s emergency stockpile, said senior administration officials, who