Tauzin urges increase in strategic oil reserve

www.nola.com The Associated Press 3/17/03 6:39 PM

Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, urged Congress to increase the capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to one billion barrels, and to fill the reserve to that capacity when cheaper oil is available.

He made the recommendation in a letter to his colleagues, a copy of which was released Monday.

Current capacity is about 600 million barrels in the reserve facilities on the Louisiana and Texas coasts. A larger reserve will make the country better able to deal with any interruptions in supply that might be caused by such occurrences as the looming war with Iraq, recent supply disruptions in Venezuela and skyrocketing oil prices, said Tauzin, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Law already authorizes and SPR capacity of a billion barrels. Tauzin said Congress should approve legislation allowing the Department of Energy to go ahead with steps to expand capacity, and to fill the reserve to capacity when oil prices are down. .