Number: RL33341
Title: The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: History, Perspectives, and Issues
Authors: Robert Bamberger, Specialist in Energy Policy 
Abstract: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) required expansion of the SPR to its authorized maximum of 1 billion barrels. Congress approved $25 million in the FY2008 budget for land acquisition for a site in Richton, Mississippi, that would add 160 million barrels of capacity, but rejected spending for other expansion work. The Administration again sought funds for this purpose in its FY2009 request. The FY2009 request was $346.9 million, including nearly $170 million expansion activities. Neither House or Senate appropriations committees favored spending on expansion; the House committee recommended $172.6 million, and a spending level of $205 million was established in the Senate. A continuing resolution (P.L. 110-329), running until March 6, 2009, sets spending at FY2008 levels.
Pages: 13
Date: January 7, 2009