The U.s. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Undoubtedly, an oil shortage would cause a major disruption to the lifestyles and conveniences to which the people of the United States are accustomed. Not only would everyday automobile travel be impeded, but an interruption in the transportation of thousands of goods would have far reaching negative implications for the U.S. economy. Due to the nation’s widespread reliance on oil as an energy source, a critical resource to the manufacturing sector and a component of countless consumer products, an interruption in the supply of oil would affect a seemingly immeasurable impact on the United States. The United States alone does not produce a sufficient supply of oil to fulfill its own demand domestically, and thus relies on a combination of domestic and imported oil. The reliance of the United States on foreign sources for the supply of oil has been a matter of increasing concern throughout the past few decades.

The 1973-1974 oil embargo, during which several major oil exporters cut off oil supply to the United States, initiated shock throughout the nation and prompted the subsequent establishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The notion of stockpiling oil in the United States to alleviate demand during a time of supply shortage was entertained by several government officials in previous decades, but no event emphasized the need for the reserve so compellingly as did the oil embargo of 1973-1974.

In 1975, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), authorizing the establishment of a petroleum reserve of up to one billion barrels, was signed and placed into effect by President Gerald Ford. Salt dome caverns along the Gulf of Mexico were designated and prepared as the sites of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve due to natural characteristics conducive to oil storage and proximity to pipelines, barge and tanker terminals and refineries. The first shipment of oil was delivered to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 1977. With the capacity to store over 700 million barrels of oil, the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the largest known emergency oil supply in the world.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005, enacted by President Bush, outlines provisions to promote energy conservation, encourages alternative energy sources and calls for an expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the one billion barrel mark authorized at inception. To facilitate the increased capacity, a new reserve site is being added in Richton, Mississippi and two existing sites are being expanded in Louisiana and Texas.