I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2908 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 17, 2009 Mr. Markey of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To provide for the sale of light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and its replacement with heavy grade petroleum.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Enhanced Supply and Price Reduction Act of 2009.

2.

Definitions

In this Act— (1)the term light grade petroleum means crude oil with an API gravity of 30 degrees or higher; (2)the term heavy grade petroleum means crude oil with an API gravity of 26 degrees or lower; and (3)the term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

3.

Sale and replacement of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

(a)

Initial Petroleum Sale and Replacement

Notwithstanding section 161 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6241), the Secretary shall publish a plan not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act to— (1)sell, in the amounts and on the schedule described in subsection (b), light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and acquire an equivalent volume of heavy grade petroleum or refined petroleum product; (2)deposit the cash proceeds from sales under paragraph (1) into the SPR Petroleum Account established under section 167 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6247); and (3)from the cash proceeds deposited pursuant to paragraph (2), withdraw the amount necessary to pay for the direct administrative and operational costs of the sale and acquisition. (b)

Amounts and Schedule

The sale and acquisition described in subsection (a) shall require the offer for sale of a total quantity of 70,000,000 barrels of light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The sale shall commence, whether or not a plan has been published under subsection (a), not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act and be completed no more than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act. In no event shall the Secretary sell barrels of oil under subsection (a) that would result in a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that contains fewer than 90 percent of the total amount of barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as of the date of enactment of this Act. Heavy grade petroleum, to replace the quantities of light grade petroleum sold under this section, shall be obtained through acquisitions which— (1)shall be completed, at the discretion of the Secretary, not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act; (2)shall be carried out in a manner so as to maximize the monetary value to the Federal Government; and (3)shall be acquired using the receipts from the sale of light petroleum authorized under this section. (c)

Dollar Cost Averaging

To decrease the cost and improve the efficiency of filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, purchase, exchange, or otherwise acquire crude oil for the Reserve on a dollar cost averaging basis. For purposes of this subsection, dollar cost averaging means an acquisition goal for each fiscal year of a constant monthly dollar value of petroleum. (d)

Deferrals

The Secretary is encouraged to, when economically beneficial and practical, grant requests to defer scheduled deliveries of petroleum to the Reserve under subsection (a) if the deferral will result in a premium paid in additional barrels of oil which will reduce the cost of oil acquisition and increase the volume of oil delivered to the Reserve or yield additional cash bonuses. (e)

Refined products reserve

The Secretary may, as appropriate to enhance the national security, acquire, and place in a Strategic Refined Products Reserve established for that purpose within the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, refined petroleum product, including motor gasoline and diesel fuel, to replace quantities of light grade petroleum sold under subsection (a).