In the early 1980s an oil glut caused Texaco, a LIFO user, to delay drilling, which cut its oil inventory levels by 16%. The LIFO cushion (i.e., the difference between LIFO and FIFO inventory values) that was built into those barrels over the year amounted to $454 million and transformed what would have been a drop in net income to a modest gain. REQUIRED: Explain how using LIFO could be interpreted as building “hidden reserves.”