AM-01-68 STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE - NEW MISSION AND USE IN 2000

Description:

In 1975, Congress authorized the establishment of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to provide an insurance policy for the nation against potential disruptions in world crude oil supplies. Today the U.S. petroleum industry refines over 15 million barrels per day of crude oil of which almost 60 percent is imported. The U.S. SPR stands ready with its stockpile of crude oil to respond to any disruption in petroleum supplies such as the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The purpose of this paper is to provide the U.S. petroleum refining industry with an overview of the SPR, the authorities and recent decisions regarding its use in 2000, and its new mission of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.