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ENERGY BASICS: petroleum

State of Play:

While electric-powered vehicles may be the ride of the future, oil remains at least for now the dominant fuel for transportation around the world. And after a period of time at the end of the 20th century when oil was subject to wide fluctuations in price, new supplies in North America as a result of non-conventional recovery techniques have helped stabilize prices.

What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

Created by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a storehouse of oil intended to protect the economy against the type of “oil shocks” spurred by the Arab boycott of oil exports to the United States in 1973. SPR is contained in hollowed-out salt domes along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. Oil can be drawn from SPR at the direction of the president; several have done so in response to supply or price disruptions. The reserve typically has held between 600 million and 700 million barrels for most of the 21st century.

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