Contents: (1) History of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): Establishment of the SPR; (2) The Drawdown Authorities: Proposals in the 111th Congress to Amend the Authorities; (3) Acquisition of Crude Oil for the SPR: Resumption of Fill (2009); Royalty-in-Kind Acquisition; (4) When Should the SPR Be Used?: The Debate Over the Years; Use of the SPR in the Persian Gulf War (1990); Hurricanes and Changes in the Market Dynamics (2005-2008); The Call for an SPR Drawdown: Summer 2008; (5) Establishment of a Regional Home Heating Oil Reserve.

The possibility of storing refined petroleum products as part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has been contemplated since the SPR was created in 1975. The SPR, which currently holds about 700 million barrels of crude oil, was created to help insulate the U.S. economy from oil supply disruptions. However, the SPR does not contain refined products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, or jet fuel. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Dept. of Energy to increase the SPR's capacity from 727 million barrels to 1 billion barrels. This testimony discusses (1) some of the arguments for and against including refined products in the SPR; and (2) lessons learned from the management of the existing crude oil SPR that may be applicable to refined products. Illus.

Congress authorized the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA, P.L. 94-163) to help prevent a repetition of the economic dislocation caused by the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo. The program is managed by the Department of Energy (DOE). Physically, the SPR comprises five underground storage facilities, hollowed out from naturally occurring salt domes in Texas and Louisiana. EPCA authorized drawdown of the Reserve upon a finding by the President that there is a "severe energy supply interruption." Congress enacted additional authority in 1990 (Energy Policy and Conservation Act Amendments of 1990, P.L. 101-383), to permit use of the SPR for short periods to resolve supply interruptions stemming from situations internal to the United States. The meaning of a "severe energy supply interruption" has been controversial. A spike in crude and product prices often stirs calls to use the SPR. However, the statute intends use of the SPR only to ameliorate discernible physical shortages of crude oil. The dynamics of world oil markets, and price sensitivity to planned or unplanned events that temporarily reduce production from the refining sector, have added new dimensions and complexities to decision making on when to fill and to use the SPR. The capacity of the SPR is 727 million barrels, and it currently holds about 698 million barrels of crude oil. In addition, a Northeast Heating Oil Reserve (NHOR) holds 2 million barrels of heating oil in above-ground storage. The SPR could be drawn down initially at a rate of 4.3 million barrels per day (mbd) for up to 90 days; thereafter, the rate would begin to decline. At issue in recent years has been whether SPR capacity should be expanded and whether the reserve should continue to be filled.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was originally authorized by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. The Senate is deliberating over the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy (DRIVE) Act, known colloquially as the reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund. Such a reauthorization, however, costs billions of dollars per year. The DRIVE Act presently includes a provision that authorizes the drawdown and sale of 101 million barrels of crude oil from the SPR during the 2018-2025 period as partial payment for a three-year reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund. Such a sale would be unprecedented in scope and would occur at a time of elevated threats to global oil production and distribution. The federal government has drawn down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve numerous times over the past three decades for a total of 166 million barrels. A sale of 101 million barrels would be unprecedented in both its duration and volume. The proposal to sell SPR oil comes at a time of heightened unplanned petroleum production outages across the world. For example, violence rages in Libya, Nigeria, and Iraq, and tensions are high between Iran and the Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia.

Issues Needing Attention in Developing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Issues Regarding the Inclusion of Refined Petroleum Products as Part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve