Energy security and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Reports that the Biden administration plans another drawdown from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are a reminder of the origin of SPR and U.S. energy security strategy.

President Biden is expected to announce the withdrawal of 15 million barrels from the reserve, which is stored in salt domes along the Texas-Louisiana coast. The reserve, which can hold in excess of 700 million barrels, held 468 million barrels as of July, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The reserve was authorized in 1975 in response to the 1974 Arab oil embargo. Other measures included the creation of the International Energy Agency, a group of 31 nations that have agreed to coordinate responses to global energy supply disruptions. 

Before this year, the federal government has authorized emergency drawdowns of SPR on three occasions: a 2011 release coordinated with the IEA, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina sale, and the 1991 Operation Desert Storm sale. The Department of Energy has authorized exchanges — loans, in essence, that must be paid back with additional oil — on at least a dozen occasions over the years.

The Washington Post: Biden to announce release of more petroleum from strategic reserve

Bloomberg, in The Washington Post: What Tapping the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve Means