S. 337: Replenishing Our American Reserves Act

This bill places limits on the petroleum products (e.g., crude oil) that may be added to or exported from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

The Department of Energy (DOE) must ensure that only petroleum products that have been produced or refined in the United States are acquired and added into the SPR. The bill prohibits the SPR from being filled with petroleum products imported from Algeria, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Further, the bill prohibits the SPR from being filled with petroleum products imported from other foreign countries unless DOE certifies that all means of increasing production of petroleum products in the United States has been exhausted, including increasing the availability of federal land for leasing and increasing the number of applications for permits to drill.

With respect to the drawdown and sale at auction of petroleum products from the SPR, DOE must require as a condition of the sale that the petroleum products may not be exported to countries that are designated as countries of particular concern for religious freedom. In order to be able to purchase petroleum products at auctions, state-owned entities must certify that they have not purchased the products from countries subject to certain bans or sanctions 15 days after the date on which the ban or sanctions went into effect.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.