DOE Strategic Petroleum Reserve report welcomed by Murkowski
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) greeted the recent publication of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Long-Term Strategic Review of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve with approval as well as words of caution.
According to the report, the reserve will avert approximately $350 billion in economic losses.
Murkowski has led the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in its efforts to modernize the petroleum reserve, holding a hearing in October and marking up legislative language that was passed into law as part of the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act.
“Our nation’s strategic energy reserve is set to enter an era of unprecedented drawdowns, fundamentally transforming its nature and function,” Murkowski said. “We have never before sold off so much oil, at such a pace, for such a long period of time. Both Congress and the Administration should consider carefully the Department of Energy’s analysis before we embark on any grand redesign of our energy security architecture.”
The DOE report covered issues including the state of the reserve’s infrastructure, bottlenecks preventing oil movement to the market, modernization, new marine terminals, and concerns regarding the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
