Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested a briefing on Monday from the Department of Energy (DoE) on its management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), the chairman of the committee, and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the vice chairwoman of the committee, were among the legislators who requested the briefing in a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
The DoE announced in March that it would conduct a test drawdown and sale of 5 million barrels of SPR oil over a 30-day period.
“(The sale) occurred against the backdrop of increased oil production nationwide as well as continuing threats of global energy supply interruptions, the first changeover in SPR’s management and operating contractor in 20 years and an aging SPR infrastructure,” the legislators said.
The DoE proposed a number of deferred maintenance programs for SPR infrastructure in its fiscal year 2015 budget request. It also proposed creation of the first regional refined petroleum reserve that contains gasoline. Current SPR contains crude oil, not refined petroleum products.
“Efficient and effective management of the SPR is an important component of our nation’s energy security,” the legislators said. “As the summer driving season approaches and tensions in some of the world’s most resource-rich areas and elsewhere show no sign of abating, the obligation of Congress, and especially this committee, to remain vigilant in its oversight of DoE’s stewardship of this important program is clear.”
Committee members requested a briefing with the DoE’s Office of Fossil Energy and the SPR Project Management Office before May 27 to discuss the recent developments regarding management of the SPR.