In a move sure to perturb Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, the Biden administration reportedly plans to sell more crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Bloomberg reported the sale will amount to 26 million barrels of crude. It quotes a Department of Energy spokesperson who said the sale is in accordance with a budget mandate enacted in 2015 for the current fiscal year.
President Biden’s use several times of the SPR, in a move to try and lower gasoline prices, left a bad taste in the mouths of Oklahoma’s Senators and Representatives.
Congressman Tom Cole still discussed it this week in a column reflecting on the President’s recent State of the Union Address. While lamenting how Biden failed to mention a plan to unleash North American energy production to solve his self-created energy crisis, Cole said, “President Biden must stop playing games with our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, created solely for natural disasters or national emergencies. The Biden administration’s decision to drain this has left our nation in a vulnerable position and in the hands of other countries that do not have our best interests in mind.”
In recent comments, U.S. Sen. James Lankford also voiced opposition to Biden’s use of the SPR.
“Only in emergencies in the U.S. That’s the intent of legislation meant to curb the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” said Lankford. “It’s ridiculous that Biden would try to ‘cancel’ traditional energy production here at home and then propose using our emergency reserves of oil.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, in a Youtube post, stated, “I urge Joe Biden to remember why the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in the first place – America was reliant on oil from our adversaries in OPEC, and it was weaponized against us. Instead of doubling down on his anti-American energy agenda, President Biden should be working to make sure this never happens again.”
Congresswoman Stephanie Bice introduced last month her Save America’s Valuable Energy Act which would ensure that crude from the SPR does not flow to companies headquartered in countries listed under the State Department’s Defense Trade Control Country Policies List.
“Since President Biden took office, he has waged a full-on assault on the oil and gas industry. Instead of unleashing American production, he has repeatedly withdrawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is supposed to be used for emergencies,” she stated at the time of the filing of the bill.
She charged the President sent 950,000 barrels of crude from the SPR to China.
” Energy security is national security, and President Biden continues to weaken America while strengthening China. My critical legislation ensures that in the future, we will not send a single barrel from the SPR to our adversaries.”
