Energy Department lacks funds to replenish reserves.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that bans releases of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from being sold to China or Chinese entities.
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state said, “We shouldn’t hand the keys to our energy future over to the Chinese Communist Party.” She said the administration was “wasting our strategic reserves.”
Through October of last year, nearly 67 million barrels of oil were exported to China by American oil companies. A total of 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was released last year. The Department of Energy does not currently have the funds to replenish the reserve, which estimated to be at its lowest level in 39 years.
The legislation now moves to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For members of the House of Representatives as they seek to steward the nation’s oil reserves.
- For senators as they consider the legislation that would prohibit exporting oil to China from the SPR.
- For U.S. energy officials as they seek to replenish the oil reserves that have been depleted.
Sources: U.S. News & World Report, The Hill, Epoch Times
