Strategic Petroleum Reserves Reports to Congress

Section 165 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6245), as amended, requires the Secretary of Energy to report annually to the President and the Congress on the activities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.  

  • Calendar Year 2022 - This report includes details concerning the physical capacity, type, and quantity of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2022, as well as plans for upgrades and major maintenance. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act requires the Secretary to report information on the current withdrawal and distribution rates and capabilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; the history and costs of petroleum acquisitions for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and the costs associated with operations, maintenance, management, and planned projects for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

  • Calendar Year 2021 - This report includes details concerning the physical capacity, type, and quantity of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2021, as well as plans for upgrades and major maintenance. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act requires the Secretary to report information on the current withdrawal and distribution rates and capabilities of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; the history and costs of petroleum acquisitions for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and the costs associated with operations, maintenance, management, and planned projects for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

  • Calendar Year 2020 - Highlights include: In calendar year (CY) 2020, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) implemented its first Exchange for Storage program to fill the SPR with commercial crude oil to help alleviate the oil industry storage crunch resulting from the combined effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic demand decline and an excess of global production. In July 2020, at the direction of the President, the SPR program implemented its first Trial Oil Purchase Program to help oil producers.  Also, in CY 2020, the Department of Energy and the Government of Australia (GOA) pursuant into a long-term. Crude Oil Storage Lease Agreement. As of the end of 2020, Australia held 1.5million barrels of crude oil in the SPR. Three of the SPR storage sites received a Star Among Stars award for achieving incident rates at or below the National average, and one SPR storage site received a Star of Excellence award from the DOE-VPP, which required the site to have an incident rate at least 90 percent below the National average.
  • Calendar Year 2019 - Highlights include:  In 2019, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) successfully carried out two congressionally mandated crude oil sales.  In April 2019, the SPR began crude oil sales in accordance with Section 404 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74) and the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019 (Public Law 115-244, 132 Sat. 2908 (Sept. 21, 2018)), which authorized the Secretary to draw down and sell up to $200 million worth of SPR crude oil in fiscal year (FY) 2019 to generate revenue for the SPR modernization program. The FY 2019 SPR modernization program crude oil sale concluded in May 2019 with 4,307,485 barrels (bbl) delivered in over 14 shipments. The SPR deposited $299,999,960.89 into the Energy Security and Infrastructure Modernization Fund to support the modernization program. In October 2019, the SPR began a crude oil sale in accordance with Section 5010(a)(1)(C) of the 21st Century Cures Act (Public Law 114-255) and Section 403(a)(2) of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74). The combined CY 2019 sale concluded in November 2019 with 9.85 MMbbl delivered in over 61 shipments. The SPR deposited $566,610,383 into the General Fund of the Treasury.
  • Calendar Year 2018 - Highlights include:  In 2018, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) successfully carried out two congressionally mandated crude oil sales.  In April 2018, the SPR began crude oil sales in accordance with Section 404 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74).  On October 10, 2018, the SPR completed its' 5-year program of degasification on 15 of 22 caverns at the West Hackberry, Louisiana site.   
  • Calendar Year 2017 - Highlights include:  In 2017, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) successfully carried out three congressionally mandated crude oil sales. In February 2017, the SPR began crude oil sales in accordance with Section 404 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74). The SPR successfully executed six emergency exchange agreements, in response to impacts from Hurricane Harvey and subsequent oil shortages, with deliveries from August 30, 2017, through September 28, 2017, to four companies—Marathon, Phillips 66, Placid, and Valero—for a total of approximately 5.0 million barrels. Of the total exchange barrels 2,684,826 barrels of crude oil, including premium barrels were paid back in Calendar Year 2017.
  • Calendar Year 2016 - Highlights include:  In May 2016, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve successfully completed the Long-Term Strategic Review (LTSR) in accordance with Section 402 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-74), an act that required the Secretary of Energy to conduct an assessment of the SPR’s ability to carry out its energy security mission in the context of changing North American and global oil markets and its ability to address challenges and critical decisions facing the SPR in the coming years.
  • Calendar Years Prior to 2016

 

Additional Reports Issued by the Office of Petroleum Reserves

  • LTSR Report to Congress - The LTSR is a congressionally-mandated study that provides an overview of the SPR and addresses key challenges that will impact the Reserve’s ability to carry out its energy security mission.  Major topics include: The state of the SPR’s surface and subsurface infrastructure; bottlenecks in the North American midstream infrastructure that impact the SPR’s ability to move oil to the market; costs and benefits of SPR options; SPR modernization requirements for infrastructure life extension; the addition of dedicated marine terminals; issues with the SPR’s authorizing legislation, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA).
  • 2014 Test Sale Report to Congress - Section 161 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6245), as amended, requires the Secretary of Energy to provide a detailed explanation of any test of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve drawdown and sales procedures. The Department of Energy carried out such a test starting in March 2014 with completion in July 2014.
  • Environmental, Safety and Health Reports
  • National Environmental Policy Act Reports