CASPER, WY — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), applauded the House’s passage of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ (R-WA) bill to protect America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) from China. Rep. McMorris Rodgers is chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“China cannot be allowed to profit from our emergency energy reserves. Sales to adversaries from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) weaken our energy and national security. President Biden’s dangerous drawdown of the SPR has done just that. I applaud Chair McMorris Rodgers for putting America’s energy security first. Now that the House has acted, the Senate should move to take up legislation to ban such sales.”

Background Information:

On July 28, 2022, Barrasso introduced S. 4651, a bill to prohibit the secretary from selling crude oil from the SPR to countries of particular concern, including China. Additionally, the bill would prohibit state-owned entities, which have purchased oil from nations under sanction by the United States, from purchasing SPR products. Barrasso will reintroduce his legislation when the Senate returns later this month. 

On September 27, 2022, Barrasso wrote an op-ed in National Review on Biden’s political abuse of the SPR.

On November 28, 2022, Barrasso and McMorris Rodgers sent a letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm raising concerns about potential damage to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) due to President Biden’s unprecedented drawdowns and the Department of Energy’s mismanagement of the national security asset. 

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