Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
US Would Trade Reserve Oil for Profit, Invest in EVs
Under Democrats’ Bill
Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Tue, September 27, 2022 at 3:15 AM
(Bloomberg) -- Democrats are pitching a plan that would
allow the US government to buy and sell crude from its emergency reserves for a
profit and use that money to fund electric-car charging infrastructure.
Under the so-called Buy Low and Sell High Act introduced
Monday, the Energy Department would be allotted more freedom to make sales and
purchases of as many as 350 million barrels for the nation’s Strategic
Petroleum Reserve to maximize profits. The amount -- equivalent to almost half
the stockpile’s current physical capacity -- would be earmarked for swift
transactions and designated a new “Economic Petroleum Reserve.”
That’s in contrast to the current approach, where the entire reserve is designed to be a stopgap in times of energy shortages or supply disruptions -- not a financial tool. Although the president has wide latitude to initiate drawdowns amid supply shocks, non-emergency sales and purchases are often directed by Congress.
If enacted, the proposal would mark a major shift in the US approach toward emergency crude supplies, which were formally established in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo as a tool for addressing severe energy supply disruptions. President Joe Biden has unleashed tens of millions of barrels of SPR crude in an effort to tame high prices stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some critics decried the move as a misuse of the reserve.
The bill “helps us regain control of domestic gas prices and protects drivers from future price fluctuations,” Representative Frank Pallone Jr., a Democrat from New Jersey, said in an emailed statement. Pallone introduced the legislation along with eight other Democrats on Monday. An Energy Department spokesperson did not immediately comment on the measure.
The measure would give the Energy Department the power to purchase oil for the economic reserve when prices dip below $60 a barrel and sell when prices climb above $90. Proceeds would be steered to electric vehicle initiatives and a new technical assistance program designed to increase crude throughput at foreign allies’ refineries.
It also contains provisions that would dramatically expand government stockpiles of fuels by building a network of refined petroleum product reserves across the US with the capacity to store 250 million barrels of domestically refined gasoline and diesel. At the same time, the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve would quadruple in size to store up to 4 million barrels of petroleum distillate.
The legislation would prohibit barrels from the reserves, both crude and refined products, to be exported to companies owned or influenced by China or nations under US sanctions.
Translation
（彭博社）- 民主黨人正在提出一項計劃，該計劃將允許美國政府從其應急儲備中買賣原油以獲取利潤，並將這筆錢用於資助電動汽車充電基礎設施。
根據周一推出的所謂 “低買高賣法” 能源部將獲得更多自由，為國家戰略石油儲備進行多達 3.5 億桶的銷售和購買，以實現利潤最大化。該數量 - 相當於庫存當前實際容量的近一半 - 將被指定用於快速交易，並指定一個新的
“經濟石油儲備” 。
這與目前的方法形成鮮明對比，目前方法就是整個儲備旨在作為在能源短缺或供應中斷時的權宜對應 - 而不是一種金融工具。在供應受衝擊的情況下, 總統有很大的權力去提取，但非緊急銷售和購買通常由國會指導。
如果獲得通過，該提案將標誌著美國對緊急原油供應的態度發生重大轉變，緊急原油供應是在 1970 年代阿拉伯石油禁運後正式建立的，作為解決嚴重能源供應中斷的工具。總統拜登已經釋放了數千萬桶 SPR 原油，以遏制俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭引發的高油價。一些批評者譴責此舉是對原油儲備的濫用。
來自新澤西州的民主黨眾議員Frank Pallone Jr. 在一份電子郵件聲明中表示，該法案 “幫助我們重新控制國內汽油價格並保護司機免受未來價格波動的影響” 。 Pallone 週一與其他八名民主黨人一起提出了這項立法。能源部發言人沒有立即對這項措施發表評論。
該措施將使能源部有權在價格低於每桶 60 美元時購買石油作為經濟儲備，並在價格攀升至每桶 90 美元以上時出售。收益將用於電動汽車計劃和一項旨在增加外國盟友煉油廠原油產量的新技術援助計劃。
它還包含通過在美國建立一個能夠儲存 2.5 億桶國內精煉汽油和柴油的精煉石油產品儲備網絡來大幅擴大政府燃料庫存的條款。與此同時，東北家庭取暖油儲備
的規模將翻兩番，可儲存多達 400 萬桶石油餾分油。
該立法將禁止將儲備,包括原油和精煉產品出口到中國擁有或其受影響的公司,
或受美國製裁的國家。
So, Democrats are working on a plan
that would allow the US government to buy and sell crude from its emergency
reserves for a profit and use that money to fund electric-car charging
infrastructure. This is a flexible use of emergency reserves.
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