Murkowski Welcomes Release of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Report
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today welcomed the release of the Long-Term Strategic Review of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was prepared by the Department of Energy for Congress.
“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 report finds that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “is projected to avert approximately $350 billion in economic losses” and offers a number of policy recommendations for Congress to consider.
Under Chairman Murkowski’s leadership, the Committee has spearheaded efforts to modernize the Reserve. It held a hearing on the subject in October 2015 and marked up legislative language that became law in 2015 as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act.
Last year, Murkowski also published two staff reports related to the SPR, entitled A Turbulent World: In Defense of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Depleting the Reserve: The Cumulative Impact of SPR Sales and Other Considerations.
