GAO recommends Energy Department improve Strategic Petroleum Reserve management
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report, recommending that the Department of Energy (DOE) take steps to modernize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
The report found that the Long-Term Strategic Review DOE conducted in 2016 did not identify an optimal size for the SPR. GAO determined that the review was limited in several ways. DOE did not, the report said, fully assess changes in marketing conditions including the impacts of reducing net imports, record levels of crude oil in commercial storage and whether the United States still needs a large government stockpile to respond to supply interruptions.
“By not examining a full range of options, DOE risks missing beneficial ways to modernize the SPR while saving taxpayer resources,” the GAO report said.
GAO recommended that DOE take several actions, including supplementing the 2016 review of the SPR, periodically reexamining the size of the SPR and considering a full range of options for handling excess storage capacity.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an important energy security asset, which is why the committee has prioritized its modernization,” U.S. House Energy Subcommittee Chair Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ranking Member Bobby Rush (D-IL) said in a statement. “We will give GAO’s recommendations careful consideration as the committee considers legislative options to address the concerns raised by this report.”
In December 2016, the Energy and Commerce Committee requested that GAO examine DOE’s management of the SPR and U.S. participation in the International Energy Agency.
