Abraham Defends SPR Policy; House Members Urge Bush to Halt Deliveries

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nergy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Tuesday defended the Bush administration's policy of filling the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as 53 members of House of Representatives called on President Bush to suspend deliveries until oil prices decline, Bloomberg reported.

Abraham told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee the administration's overriding concern is ensuring adequate inventories in case of a disruption to supplies, Bloomberg said. He said the reserve should be used only in the event of supply disruptions and not to manipulate prices.

But the 53 House members said in a letter filing the reserve without regard to prices and the availability of supplies hurts consumers and drives up the price of motor fuels.

The letter also said DOE should revert back to its previous policy of filling the SPR when crude prices are relatively low and deferring oil deliveries when prices are relatively high, Bloomberg said.

The House's letter follows Senate approval earlier this month of a non-binding budget provision that would cancel the scheduled delivery of 53 million barrels of crude to the reserve. Separate legislation would be required to actually cancel oil deliveries.

The Bush administration's goal is to fill the reserve next year to its capacity of 700 million barrels. The reserve now holds 649.5 million barrels, Bloomberg said.

SPR was created in 1975 following the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and 1974. The oil is stored in more than 50 underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coastline.

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