Legislators receive a letter from Energy Department.
Congress received a letter from the Department of Energy earlier this month, offering the administration’s response to congressional concerns about the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
President Biden’s administration sold 180 million barrels of oil from the SPR in the last year, dropping the SPR to its lowest level since 1983. In light of this decision, Senator John Barrasso and Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers had written to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in November to inquire about the infrastructure of the SPR.
The SPR is a series of interconnected salt caverns that hold the oil, and the oil is retrieved from the caverns by pushing water through them to bring the oil to the surface. Rushing water has the potential to dissolve the walls of the salt caverns, affecting their volume capacity and structural integrity.
The letter from Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Energy for Infrastructure Kathleen Hogan reported that no damage to the SPR has been sustained due to the withdrawals. “The Nation’s top geoscientists at DOE’s Sandia National Laboratory continue to closely monitor cavern integrity, and the SPR remains operationally ready to respond to future supply disruptions, should they occur,” the principal deputy under secretary said.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For officials in the Department of Energy as they assess the infrastructure of the SPR.
- For members of Congress as they seek to ensure the structural integrity of the reserve.
Sources: Reuters, The Hill
