WASHINGTON — Thursday, the Senate passed an amendment introduced by U.S. Senators John Fetterman, D-Pa., Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, to the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit the sale of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to adversarial nations. The amendment was part of floor consideration of the annual bill authorizing funding for the Department of Defense.
The amendment is Fetterman’s first piece of legislation that has received a vote by the full Senate since he took office in January. It is now a part of the Senate’s version of the NDAA that is slated to receive final passage from the Senate next week.
“We absolutely should not be selling oil from our country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to our foreign adversaries. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea should not be able to purchase oil from a reserve meant to protect the energy security of America and our allies — it’s that simple,” said Sen. Fetterman. “I’m very proud that this amendment passed the Senate today, and I’ll keep fighting to make sure it becomes law.”
The amendment, built off of companion legislation introduced by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., that passed the House earlier this year, prohibits entities owned or controlled by China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea from purchasing oil from the SPR and prohibits exports of this oil to those countries.
The SPR, which was established by Congress in 1975, exists to minimize the impacts of oil supply shocks on the United States. Today, as the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil, it continues to protect and strengthen U.S. national, economic and energy security. The U.S. Department of Energy manages the SPR and regularly conducts public sales of excess crude oil to the highest bidders through competitive public auction. Under both the Biden and Trump Administrations, foreign companies with direct ties to our adversaries have won these auctions, giving anti-democratic regimes access to critical energy reserves.
