Washington, D.C. –Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today expressed support for the Department of Energy’s announced plan to negotiate the short-term loan of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to some Gulf Coast refineries whose supply of oil has been disrupted by Hurricane Ivan. Chairman Domenici’s statement: “The Department of Energy is considering a request to loan oil to some Gulf Coast refineries whose supply has been disrupted by Hurricane Ivan. I fully support this action. This loan is consistent with existing SPR policy. We store oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the event of a severe disruption in oil supply. Congress didn't create SPR as a price control tool. We didn't create it as a spare cash fix. We didn't create it as a political ploy. We created it to protect you, me and every American citizen should there be a severe disruption in oil supply. Current SPR policy allows for the loan of oil to refineries when their supply is disrupted. The Administration loaned oil to refineries in 2002 after oil imports were disrupted by Hurricane Lily. These loans are short-term loans that will be paid back in a matter of weeks. Such common-sense loans are sound energy policy.”