U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, toured the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) site near Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Friday for a firsthand look at the reserve’s operational readiness and challenges given changes in the nation’s energy output. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Chris Smith joined Murkowski on the July 17 visit.

Senate Energy Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski and Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Chris Smith toured the Bayou Choctaw Strategic Petroleum Reserve site near Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 17. 

“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a vital national security asset. We must ensure that it’s capable of moving oil to where it’s needed in case of supply disruptions,” Murkowski said. “I look forward to continued engagement with Secretary Moniz on the future of the SPR.”

Sen. Murkowski touring one of the four Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites on the Gulf Coast at the end of last week. 

Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has cautioned against calls to sell crude oil from the reserve to pay for legislative initiatives unrelated to energy security, saying that the energy stockpile should not be used as an “ATM.”

“Any potential revenue raised through the ‘rightsizing’ of the SPR should be used to improve our nation’s energy security,” Murkowski said. “Ensuring the operational effectiveness of the reserve should be our first priority.”