What Is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and How Much Oil Is In It?

[Rhiannon12866]

Political and economic unrest in the Arab world have sent gas prices skyrocketing in the United States in recent weeks, and some lawmakers are ready to tap into the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. What is that, and how much oil is in it?

The reserve was formed following an energy crisis of a different era. In October 1973, the Organization of Arab and Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) shut off oil supplies in response to United States support of the Israeli military during the Yom Kippur War. The oil embargo, which lasted until the following March, caused a global energy and economic crisis. To prevent such a situation from arising again, the U.S. government created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in 1975. Several other countries also created oil reserves, but the American stockpile was and remains the biggest.

As of March 7, the SPR consists of 726.5 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground caverns at four secure locations along the Gulf Coast, a spokesperson at the U.S. Department of Energy told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience. The biggest reserve site is Bryan Mound, near Freeport, Texas. There, 254 million barrels fill 20 manmade caverns that have been hollowed out beneath salt domes a few thousand feet underground. The other three reserve sites are Big Hill in Winnie, Texas, West Hackberry in Lake Charles, LA, and Bayou Chocktaw in Baton Rouge, LA.

http://www.livescience.com/13115-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil.html

[HillbillyBob]

1. 30 yrs of the same short sighted but profitable policies

leaves us paying almost 4$ per gallon so far......

[Rhiannon12866]

3. I certainly agree.

It's $3.60+ here in NY, and going up everyday. Diesel is well over $4. Since it normally goes up when they switch to the summer blend, I cringe to think how much we'll be paying then. I live in a rural area, not much public transportation around here, so I have to drive to go anywhere, but I'm driving a whole lot less, these days. :(

[Tunkamerica]

2. The United States consumes an average of 20 million barrels of oil per day

The United States consumes an average of 20 million barrels of oil per day (bbl/d, according to the Department of Energy.)

That's 36 days of oil. And those are prob. old figures.

[Uben]

4. That oil is not for poor people! Leave it alone!

That is a reserve for rich people once all other sources have dried up, so don't even think about touching it!




/sarcasm

[Statistical]

5. What does poor have to do with it.

The US uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day. Tapping the strategic reserve would do nothing. ~40 days later the strategic reserve would be empty and oil/gas prices would go right back up.

Even if you used the reserve to supply only 10% of usage to provide minimal price relief the reserve would only last roughly a year.

What sense would either of those scenarios make.

[OnlinePoker]

6. The issue with the reserve is the type of oil stored

60% of it is sour oil (heavy sulfer content) and the U.S. has limited refining capacity for this type of oil (I seem to recall reading only one or two refineries). It was a shell game by the oil companies. They paid oil instead of some of their royalties for drilling on government land and gave the government the less valuable oil that they had little use for. The SPR should be tapped in the case of natural disasters like Katrina cutting off supply, but it should not be used to regulate market prices. Gas prices should go higher. Less people would drive and GHG emissions would be reduced.