U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) on Jan. 9 sponsored a bill that aims to ensure crude oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is not exported to rival countries.
“My critical legislation ensures that in the future, we will not send a single barrel from the SPR to our adversaries,” Rep. Bice said on Monday.
The congresswoman reintroduced the Save America’s Valuable Energy (SAVE) Act, H.R. 59, with 11 original Republican cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. David Valadao (R-CA) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), to prohibit the sale of petroleum products from the SPR to certain entities, according to the congressional record bill summary.
Specifically, this would include companies headquartered in countries listed on the U.S. State Department’s Defense Trade Control Country Policies List, which are: Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or Venezuela.
“Since President Biden took office, he has waged a full-on assault on the oil and gas industry,” Rep. Bice said. “Instead of unleashing American production, he has repeatedly withdrawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is supposed to be used for emergencies.”
If enacted, H.R. 59 also would prevent the sale of crude from the SPR to entities headquartered in Russia, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmaker’s office.
Rep. Bice also pointed out that the proposed bill follows actions last year by the U.S. Department of Energy, which in April 2022 approved sales of 950,000 barrels of American crude from the SPR to Unipec America Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the China-based UNIPEC, formally known as China International United Petroleum and Chemical Co. Ltd.
“Energy security is national security, and President Biden continues to weaken America while strengthening China,” said Rep. Bice. “With a Republican majority, I plan to hold the Biden administration accountable for their actions. We must determine exactly why Biden sent American crude to China in the first place.”
The congresswoman first introduced the SAVE Act in July 2022, but H.R. 8554 stalled in the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.