U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on Nov. 14 introduced bipartisan legislation that would authorize the U.S. Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to lease underused facilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
“If the tanks are empty, let’s put them to use,” said Sen. Cassidy last week. “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is crucial for our national security and this will help keep it in good working order and save taxpayers money at the same time.”
The SPR, maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil. The federally owned oil stocks are stored in huge underground salt caverns along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and Louisiana, according to DOE, which says any decisions to withdraw crude oil from the SPR are made by the president as authorized by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
Sen. Cassidy sponsored S. 3618, a bipartisan bill related to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reform Act, H.R. 6511, which the House approved on Sept. 25 and sent to the Senate, where it is under consideration by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
S. 3618, which Sen. Cassidy introduced Wednesday with cosponsor U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), also has been referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for review.
The measure would save American taxpayers money by leasing unused storage capacity at the SPR, where the additional revenue could be utilized for SPR maintenance and to improve its long-term operational readiness, according to Sen. Cassidy’s office.
“This pragmatic solution shows that lawmakers can work across the aisle to craft energy policy that puts money back into people’s pockets,” Sen. Bennet said. “We need more bipartisan efforts in Washington that save taxpayer dollars.”
The SPR currently has a crude oil storage capacity of 713.5 million barrels and an inventory of approximately 660 million barrels, according to DOE, which says roughly 250 million barrels, or roughly 45 percent of the SPR’s storage capacity, will be unused by 2028.
If enacted, the legislation would permit the DOE to conduct a pilot program to lease spare SPR capacity to the private sector and foreign governments, according to a summary provided by Sen. Cassidy’s office.
The legislation also would require the U.S. Secretary of Energy to guarantee that any such lease would not impair the national security of the United States or its ability to use the SPR, according to the summary.
The House version of the bill was introduced on July 25 by U.S. Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Bobby Rush (D-IL).