Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Nonresident Senior Fellow David L. Goldwyn writes for The Hill about why the United States should not sell off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), despite strong domestic oil production:
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has effectively deterred oil embargoes since it was established, and provided relief to replace disrupted oil supply due to weather, civil unrest and war when presidents have called for it. It is tempting to sell down some of the SPR now that the United States can provide more of its own oil supply through domestic production, and as we face the need to invest in maintaining the SPR’s physical infrastructure and ensure there is requisite pipeline capacity to move SPR oil to where it needs to go. But it would be a mistake to hollow out the world’s largest non-OPEC supply of strategic stocks.
Rather than sell some it for non-strategic purposes, a better solution is to let fellow members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), and those countries that will formally associate with it and abide by its rules, buy special drawing rights (SDRs) to a share of the reserve. The funds we raise should be used to repair leaking storage caverns, assure our ability to drawdown at optimal rates during a disruption, and fund regional product reserves.