Strategic Petroleum Supplies Act
Key claim: This 2012 Senate bill would have barred the government from selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Keystone XL pipeline received all required presidential permits, except when needed to meet international energy-program obligations.
Abstract
(S2100 · 112th Congress) Strategic Petroleum Supplies Act - Prohibits the Administration from authorizing sales of petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) until the date all requisite permits under Executive Order 13337 for the Keystone XL pipeline project application filed on September 19, 2008, have been issued. Excepts from such prohibition U.S. obligations under the international energy program. Latest action (2012-02-13): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
The bill illustrates how Congress has periodically attempted to repurpose Strategic Petroleum Reserve authorities as leverage over unrelated energy permitting decisions, rather than using the SPR strictly for supply emergencies. Although it never advanced, it foreshadows recurring debates about the SPR’s proper role and about congressional tools for forcing executive-branch pipeline permitting.