Murray, Kaptur Slam Trump Administration’s Oil Reserve Release as Months Too Late for Families Paying High Energy Costs

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, released the following statement in response to the Department of Energy’s announcement of another release of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. “Families in Washington State, Northwest Ohio, and all across the country are still paying too much at the pump and on their home energy bills — and this latest release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve woefully comes months too late to bring those high costs down. The Trump Administration says the deal costs taxpayers nothing, yet it has not set aside the money needed to refill the Reserve for the majority of the barrels owed back, which leaves our country less ready for the next emergency. This is a show put on to distract from the fact that this Administration is responsible for sending gas prices skyrocketing, and working families will keep paying for it in the days, weeks, months, and years to come,” said Murray and Kaptur. On September 29, the Department of Energy issued a request for proposals to exchange up to 40 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The exchange is part of a 172-million-barrel release the Trump Administration announced in March. Under an exchange, companies borrow oil from the Reserve and must later return it with extra barrels. Because none of the oil is sold, the exchanges bring in no money to pay for transport and other costs associated with moving it back into the Reserve. ###