Sen. Wyden presses DOE for study on US petroleum reserve

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is requesting that the Energy Department study the size and contents of the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

In a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Wednesday, Wyden urges him to direct the Department of Energy to study the reserve, which is the largest emergency supply of crude oil in the world.

{mosads}Wyden’s request comes just days after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended in a report that the DOE study the petroleum reserve.

The report also said lifting a decades-old ban on crude oil exports could cut gas prices for consumers, and boost the economy.

“I am writing to urge the Department to follow the GAO’s recommendation and begin a study as soon as possible,” Wyden said on Wednesday.

“The recent shale boom is having a profound effect on United States energy policy,” he said.

“In fact, some policy provisions put in place as recently as 2007 are now at best irrelevant, or at worst detrimental, to national environmental and economic goals, while much of our law in relation to oil and gas conservation and reserves comes from the 1970s.”

When it comes to the oil reserve, Wyden said, estimates are “no longer in line with current net imports.”

Wyden notes that despite differing positions on allowing crude oil exports, few policies are able to last over 40 years without “revision” or “updating.”

Wyden has voiced concerns in the past that lifting the ban on oil exports could increase prices at home and possibly hurt consumers.