BATON ROUGE, LA — Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a solicitation to immediately make storage space for 30 million barrels of crude available to struggling oil producers after Congress blocked funding a direct purchase into the SPR last weekend.
“Louisiana’s oil producers praise the President, his administration, and Louisiana’s federal delegation for taking swift, decisive action to help support the nation’s energy producers with the SPR’s exchange for storage,” Gifford Briggs, Louisiana Oil & Gas Association President said. “The oil and gas industry is the backbone of Louisiana’s economy and the foundation for many communities who have found themselves reeling in the wake of both COVID-19 and the Russian-Saudi oil price war. This market-based solution creates a win-win scenario by opening up badly needed storage for producers and filling up the SPR for citizens when American energy security is needed most.”