The amount of crude oil stockpiled in America’s strategic reserve is at its lowest level since 1987.
That development follows President Joe Biden’s decision to tap the U.S. emergency oil reserve in March.
Meanwhile, House Republicans want answers on how the Biden administration will address concerns about a supply crunch and are pushing the Department of Energy for specifics.
A May 26 press release from Republicans on the House Oversight Committee explains:
Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.), Congressman Fred Keller (R-Pa.), and Oversight Committee Republicans pushed U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jennifer Granholm to provide the Biden Administration’s plan to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The SPR is intended for emergency supply chain disruptions—not as a stop gap to make up for the Democrats’ war on domestic energy production. In their letter to Secretary Granholm, the Republican lawmakers emphasized how Americans continue to suffer from skyrocketing gasoline prices despite the unprecedented release of oil from U.S. reserves and requested an immediate briefing to ensure the Administration is working to refill the SPR and encourage domestic energy production.
“Committee on Oversight and Reform Republicans are conducting oversight of the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent announcement regarding a long-term replenishment plan for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” wrote the Republican lawmakers. “The Biden Administration has made diminishing domestic energy production a policy priority—causing the price of gasoline to skyrocket. Numerous times throughout the past year, the Biden Administration has released oil from the SPR with the hopes of lowering domestic gas prices. However, despite these actions, gas prices continue to rise and now stand on average at $4.60, the highest-ever average price since AAA began collecting data in 2000. In addition to that, for the first time ever, gas now costs over $4.00 dollars per gallon in every single state. Now more than ever, the DOE should establish policies that strive to produce more domestic energy instead of using an emergency oil supply in a failed attempt to curb inflation.”
On May 5, 2022, DOE announced a buyback process to replenish a fraction of the 180 million emergency barrels that were previously released by the Biden Administration. As of May 13, 2022, the stockpile in the SPR was 538 million barrels, which is the lowest amount since 1987. The SPR was created in 1973 so the U.S. would have a stockpile of crude oil supply in the case of an emergency. The SPR currently has the capacity to hold 727 million barrels of oil, but after the Biden Administration’s announcement that it plans to release 180 million additional barrels over the next six months, the supply will be critically low.
“We request a briefing to better understand how the DOE intends to implement policies that increase domestic energy production while also restoring the SPR to its intended purpose of protecting the United States from global supply disruption,” continued the Republican lawmakers. “Instead of relying on false promises that a release from the SPR will reduce gas prices, the U.S. should enact polices that re-position itself as a major global energy producer. The American people deserve to know more about DOE’s plan to backfill the SPR. Americans are suffering from record high 8.3 percent inflation including an energy index increase of 30 percent over the last 12 months. The Administration owes the American people answers.”
The letter to Secretary Granholm can be found here.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
Donny Ferguson is a professional fundraiser and organizational manager. Born and raised in Texas, he has lived in Washington, D.C. for 16 years. Ferguson also served as Senior Communications and Policy Adviser in the United States House of Representatives, operating one of Capitol Hill's most effective media operations.
Typical, GOP RINO’s worried more about the effect than the root cause of the countries problems.
Get rid of the entire Biden cabal you cowards! Two years wasted!
Useless to demand anything from stupid Brandon. After November will be the time to rectify all his stupid bull shit.
The republicans need to order the Arrest of biden and his criminal administration including obama, pelosi, harris, and 80% of congress, uphold our Constitution as Written their oath send it to the Federal Marshals they have the power to arrest the president and all that have broken the Constitution as Written, they are to protect America and the Constitution as Written so do your jobs put the real President back in start setting up a new election with paper ballots, in black ink, No Mail in ballots, except Military, 78 still go and vote , Picture ID
RIGHT ON
THESE SUBVERSIVES MUST Pay the ultimate price
like immediately !
There are no plans, nor will there be. Sleepy Joe when asked about high gasoline prices a couple of weeks ago, gave this chilling and telling response, From Joe,…”And when it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place….we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” In other words, too bad your families budgets and savings are being decimated through record high prices and near record inflation, the ultimate green nirvana will make your suffering worthwhile. Don’t expect any help from this idiot or his cronies. Remember that this November!!!
As Pigkiller famously said near the end of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, “Plan, there ain’t no plan.” At least their is no real plan to replenish it. The plan is to artificially keep supply low to make prices high. The plan is to force Americans to buy electric vehicles even though there is no plan to build that many of them, nor be able to charge them, except of course to just trade fossil fuel in vehicles with fossil fuel at generating facilities. Morons is what you see, running our country. It is becoming time to take action against this president and his puppet masters who will destroy the United States and we are giving them their chance.
I have no trust in our government any longer! Just waiting to die!
No one cares anymore!
Why did Biden only release such a small amount of our national stockpile of petro? What was released is less that the everyday use in this country, and made very little, if any, dent in helping the people in this country. The people of this country need to make sure that all these left wing liberal democrats are purged from our government come November, and then again in November 2024. If we are to save this country from total destruction we need to get rid of them and get this country back on track.
One Shouldn’t hold their breath. Lying Corrupt Quid Pro KING Joe doesn’t plan on replenishing the Strategic Oil Reserve anytime soon. If Corrupt Quid Pro could have his way, he would drain all the oil in the reserve, just so the American consumer can’t obtain it.
Re Open the damn pipelines & start drilling, fracking etc
Biden is an idiot. Releasing oil from the strategic reserve was only a cynical band-aid. Markets see right through it, in this case the futures markets that see a destructive energy policy ahead. It’s like we have children in charge. And we do, in the person of Jennifer Granholm, a woman no experience in energy matters, but was just a compliant Biden toady, like the equally unqualified Transportation Secretary Mayor Pete Butthead.
Replenishing the strategic oil reserve should be a no brainer, but fascist Greens see it as an end run around their drive to stop fossil fuel production and transition to windmills and solar panels that will destroy our economy.
This is reality