[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 6, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S739-S740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Levin, Mr. Kerry, 
        Ms. Collins, Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 2598. A bill to increase the supply and lower the cost of 
petroleum by temporarily suspending the acquisition of petroleum for 
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act 
of 2007. This bill directs the Secretary of Energy to suspend filling 
of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, SPR, for 1 year. I appreciate 
that Senators Bingaman, Levin, Kerry, Collins, Lieberman, and Wyden 
have joined me as original cosponsors of this legislation. This bill 
directs the Secretary to stop filling the reserve through direct 
purchase, royalty-in-kind or any other measures. The secretary may only 
resume filling if the price of a barrel of crude oil drops below $50 
per barrel during the remainder of 2008.
  The price of a barrel of oil is reaching record highs and global 
supplies of oil continue to shrink. During this period of volatile 
markets and short supply, it makes no sense to me for the U.S. 
Government to continue to take highly valuable crude oil, especially 
light sweet crude, off the market to store underground in a reserve 
that is at least 96 percent full. Continuing to

[[Page S740]]

``top off'' the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with highly valuable crude 
oil is putting upward pressure on oil prices and raising energy prices 
for consumers.
  I believe that we must take a ``time out'' from filling the reserve 
in order to send a signal to the market to reduce rising energy prices 
that are hitting American consumers' pocketbooks. Lowering energy costs 
will put additional money back into consumers' hands and will help 
provide a real stimulus to our economy in my judgment.
  Historically, the average price of oil used to fill the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve has been about $27 per barrel. The Administration is 
now filling the Reserve with oil that averages over $90 per barrel, 
including highly sought after light sweet crude. This is a bad deal for 
American taxpayers and consumers.
  On January 8, 2008, the Secretary of Energy sent me a letter stating 
that our Strategic Petroleum Reserve contains only 57 days of import 
protection and that the 50,000 barrels per day they are filling with is 
a small amount of the oil used on the global market daily. This is only 
part of the story. The fact is that the SPR, combined with our private 
oil stocks and refining inventories, total more than 118 days of import 
protection. The current levels in our strategic petroleum stocks are 
more than adequate to meet our international treaty obligations 
requiring 90 days of import protection for all OECD countries. I also 
disagree that taking 50,000 barrels per day off the market, especially 
light sweet crude, has no impact on energy prices. During the Clinton 
administration, Congress signaled that it wanted more than $200 million 
sold from the SPR in 1996, the price of oil dropped precipitously in 
the market. The market looks at many factors, including our filling of 
the SPR. This is another reason we can afford to temporarily suspend 
filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  Further, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 provides directional guidance 
to expand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The provision in law clearly 
states that filling the reserve must be achieved ``without incurring 
excessive cost or appreciably affecting the price of petroleum products 
to consumers.'' I think filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 
today's environment is indeed impacting the price of petroleum so that 
we must defer filling for now to ease pressure on the market.
  Finally, the Congress enacted and the President signed historic 
legislation in December 2008--the Energy Independence and Security Act 
of 2007. That legislation established a strong foundation to put our 
Nation on an alternative energy security pathway. This includes strong 
fuel economy standards and an expanded renewable fuels standard. 
Conservative estimates provided by the Securing America's Future Energy 
Coalition show that the new legislation would reduce net oil imports by 
1.75 million barrels per day by 2020, increasing to 2.26 million 
barrels per day in 2022 and rising thereafter. These estimates 
represent roughly half of the theoretical SPR drawdown capacity of 4.4 
million barrels per day. They also increase the number of days of 
protection afforded by a given quantity of oil in the SPR. Thus, our 
enactment of historic Energy legislation will, over time, increase the 
insurance value of the SPR, even if the actual inventory level is 
frozen or slightly decreased.
  Let me be clear. I believe maintaining a Strategic Petroleum Reserve 
is in the economic and national security interests of this country. 
However, during this time of record oil prices, rising energy costs for 
consumers, economic downturn and tight global oil supplies, the U.S. 
Government should suspend taking highly valuable oil off the market to 
store underground in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2598

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Strategic Petroleum Reserve 
     Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF PETROLEUM ACQUISITION FOR STRATEGIC 
                   PETROLEUM RESERVE.

       (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b) and 
     notwithstanding any other provision of law, during calendar 
     year 2008, the Secretary of Energy shall suspend acquisition 
     of petroleum for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the 
     royalty-in-kind program or any other acquisition method.
       (b) Resumption.--The Secretary may resume acquisition of 
     petroleum for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the 
     royalty-in-kind program or any other acquisition method under 
     subsection (a) not earlier than 30 days after the date on 
     which the Secretary notifies Congress that the Secretary has 
     determined that the weighted average price of petroleum in 
     the United States for the most recent 90-day period is $50 or 
     less per barrel.
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