Last week sustainablog asked what your government was doing about peak oil. With all the layers of government to which I am subjected, I immediately thought to myself that there is no short answer. Now, at the very least, I have a partial answer: My federal government is preparing for peak oil by topping off the tanks of the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve.
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced that it plans to take advantage of the recent decline in crude oil prices, and will purchase approximately 12 million barrels of crude oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to replenish supplies sold following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
In addition, DOE is also moving forward with three other SPR acquisition and/or fill activities to fill the SPR as Congress directed in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, one of which will replace the petroleum from the emergency oil releases following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
DOE said they were taking advantage of lower crude oil prices to move towards compliance with the 2005 Energy Policy Act which directs that DOE fill the reserve to its authorized capacity of one billion barrels.
“Now that the statutory moratorium on SPR oil acquisitions has expired, and in light of substantially lower crude oil market prices, DOE believes it is economically prudent and in the Nation’s national security interest to move forward with filling the SPR,” the DOE statement said.
Currently, the country’s oil reserve has a storage capacity of 727 million barrels and an inventory of 702 million barrels (97%) stored in underground salt caverns located along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas.
Image: U.S. Dept. of Energy
About Timothy B. Hurst
