![]() Biden said the move was a “wartime bridge,” allowing domestic oil production time to ramp up. Later that month, he approved the release of up to 1 million barrels a day for six months, or a total of about 180 million barrels-the largest release in the reserve’s history. In early March 2022, as Russia’s war with Ukraine caused turmoil in global energy markets, Biden authorized an emergency release of thirty million barrels. China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom (UK) also pledged to release oil in coordination with the United States. ![]() The release, seen as an effort to pressure OPEC to increase production, was a novel use of the SPR, experts say, given that there was no supply disruption. In response, President Joe Biden authorized the release of fifty million barrels of oil from the SPR that November through exchange agreements and sales. Oil demand rebounded in 2021, and rising gasoline prices contributed to record inflation in the United States. producers, but Congress did not approve the purchase. Conversely, President Trump attempted to use the SPR to respond to a collapse in oil prices at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering that the reserve be filled to maximum capacity to help struggling U.S. Congress has at times mandated the sale of oil from the SPR to raise revenue. ![]() These agreements have occurred more commonly, including after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. In both cases, the Department of Energy auctions the oil to the highest bidder.Īdditionally, the SPR can be used for so-called exchange agreements, under which oil is effectively loaned during a supply disruption to a refiner that must then repay it along with additional barrels. The president can also order a limited withdrawal of up to thirty million barrels to address more modest energy disruptions. Five such drawdowns have occurred: in 1991, during Operation Desert Storm in 2005, in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2011, during the conflict in Libya and twice in 2022, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The president can authorize an emergency drawdown from the SPR in response to a “severe energy supply interruption,” or if the United States is obligated to as part of an international action. economy from future oil supply shocks, including those engineered by oil-producing countries attempting to gain foreign policy concessions. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1975, created the SPR to shield the U.S. The SPR was created in response to the 1973 oil embargo by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), imposed in retaliation over the United States’ support of Israel during the Fourth Arab-Israeli War. Oil and Petroleum Products What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Robert Kadlec, the Donald Trump administration’s official in charge of public health preparedness, has acknowledged that his focus coming into his role in 2017 was readying the country for a bioterrorist attack involving smallpox, anthrax, or other deadly pathogens. In 2003, amid a sweeping government reorganization prompted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it became the SNS, and in 2018 was placed under the authority of another body within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It was overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ![]() The SNS grew out of an earlier program, the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile, which Congress created in 1999 to serve as an emergency supply of drugs and vaccines in the wake of a terrorist attack or other crisis affecting public health. What is the Strategic National Stockpile? More recently, President Joe Biden announced the largest release of oil reserves from the SPR in history-up to one million barrels a day for six months-in response to rising energy prices exacerbated by Russia’s war with Ukraine. The COVID-19 pandemic refocused attention on the SNS, which many have criticized as being inadequately supplied.
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