FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Margaret Wicker McPhillips
May 21 , 2007	(202)224-6414

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced legislation today to authorize the expansion of the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by half a billion barrels. 

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act authorized the expansion of the SPR from 727 million to 1 billion barrels capacity.  The Department of Energy announced in December of 2006 that it had chosen Richton, Mississippi as the preferred site for expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. 

In his January 2007 State of the Union address, President Bush proposed further increasing the SPR to 1.5 billion barrels capacity.  Cochran’s legislation amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize the expansion. 

“The United States’ economic security is threatened by our vulnerability to disruptions in world oil supply, which often result in volatile oil prices,” Cochran said.  “Because the nation's transportation sector, major industries, and military are in many ways dependent upon petroleum, we need to do what we can to mitigate the risks we face due to the instability of the international oil market. Increasing the capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a major step in helping to move the United States further along on the road to energy independence.”

The SPR was established in 1975, after the Arab oil embargo, to lessen the impact of future severe energy supply disruptions. The SPR serves as the nation's energy insurance policy, and expanding its capacity to 1.5 billion barrels will ensure that it continues to fulfill this important role.

The existing inventory in the SPR represents the equivalent of only 56 days of net imports. The United States' obligation to the member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) requires it to maintain the equivalent of 90 days of net petroleum imports. Increasing the authorized capacity of the SPR to 1.5 billion barrels will help ensure the United States meets its international obligations in the long term, regardless of commercial inventory trends.