Lawmakers to increase U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

WASHINGTON -- Amid concerns about energy security, lawmakers sent a signal to the administration Thursday that they would like to see more oil pumped into the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The administration reacted with little enthusiasm to the idea. There is some concern that if the government began buying large amounts of oil it would drive up prices, putting further pressure on the economy.

Still, a House subcommittee with little debate and no opposition approved a resolution formally urging that the emergency stockpile be expanded to its full capacity of 1 billion barrels.

It currently contains about 545 million barrels in salt caverns on the Gulf coast along the Louisiana-Texas border. The United States uses about 19 million barrels of oil a day, about 10 million barrels of which are imported.

The resolution is expected to be taken up by the full House, possibly next week, although Congress has made no commitment for money to buy any more oil.

Rep. Joe Barton said that bringing the reserve to its full authorized capacity of 1 billion barrels, which would take a number of years, would cost about $6 billion and include expansion of the storage facilities at a cost of $500 million.

He called the resolution "important for symbolism purposes" and said that he has had "very positive" feedback from the administration.

But the Energy Department had little to say about the proposal, releasing a single sentence statement: "The secretary appreciates Congress' interests in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is an integral part of our national energy security."

While not ruling out some modest increase in the reserve through a royalty-in-kind swap with oil companies, administration officials are concerned any large purchase of oil could drive up prices even before the contracts go out.