What is Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)?
Dec 07
Even though the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is available to lessen any supply disruptions and stabilize the oil market in an emergency, it does not change the fact that we as Americans are dependent on oil. Until we start to utilize alternative renewable energy sources, we will still be at the whim of foreign countries who control most of the oil in the world. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve serves as a safety net, but oil is a finite resource which will eventually be gone. When that happens, not even all of the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be able to avert an energy crisis for long.
Many presidents and advisors have discussed the need for a Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the past. In the year 1944, the Secretary of the Interior, a man by the name of Harold Ickes, advised that there needed to be an emergency stockpile of crude oil. The Minerals Policy Commission under President Harry Truman also advised a federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This idea was also advocated by President Eisenhower in the year 1956, after the Suez Crisis had occurred, and again in 1970 by the Cabinet Task Force on Oil Import Control. Up until the year 1975 though, it was simply talk, and no steps were taken to implement a federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Action was taken in 1975 by President Gerald Ford, when the Energy Policy and Conservation Act was signed, and this act set up the process to implement the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve came into being in a large part due to the oil embargo that occurred in 1973 and 1974. During these two years, many Middle East nations cut off the oil supply to America. During this time period, oil from Arab nations accounted for half of the oil imports coming into America, and the embargo had devastating effects on the country. This is what prompted President Ford to take action.
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Wonderfully engaging article that is right to the point with a lot of great suggestions.
September 4th, 2010 at 4:03 pmHello. Great job. I did not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a great story. Thanks!
August 31st, 2010 at 11:16 amKeep up the good work. Everyone is opened to there opinion. Excellent blog here, i am still reading 🙂
August 18th, 2010 at 3:47 amHey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…
August 18th, 2010 at 1:43 amIf this reserve is available and accessible, then why didn’t the governement tap this recently? Instead the general population got stuck paying outrageous prices. That doesn’t seem right, does it?
January 19th, 2009 at 8:35 pm