China would not be able to buy oil from U.S. emergency reserves under legislation scheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday.
The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that must be passed comes amid a renewed focus on the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is at a 40-year low after the Biden administration cut 180 million barrels last year to help control oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The measure, sponsored by Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, and Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, needs 60 affirmative votes to be adopted.
The SPR amendment had been scheduled for a vote on Wednesday afternoon, but was moved to Thursday.
The legislation is similar to a bill the House passed in January that would ban the sale of US oil from the reserve to any company under the control of the Chinese Communist Party and ban the export of any crude oil from the SPR to China. The Senate version also bans oil sales to Russia, North Korea and Iran, according to a spokeswoman for Manchin.
The Strategic Oil Reserve, created following the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, currently stands at 346.8 million barrels. The Biden administration has promised to replenish the stockpile, though so far the pace has been a trickle.
Republicans, who have criticized the release as a ploy to lower gas prices ahead of last November’s midterm elections, have also raised flags over the administration’s use of emergency reserves, alleging that the Energy Department transferred 900,000 barrels of oil to Unipec America Inc., a Communist Party-owned subsidiary of Sinopec Corp. son of, was a member of the founding board.
The White House has said the Energy Department is required by law to sell SPR oil in a competitive auction to the highest bidder, regardless of whether the bidder is a foreign company. He has also said that the release of oil from the reserve last year was necessary to deal with price rises caused by the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting supply disruptions.
The annual U.S. defense policy bill is considered must-pass because it authorizes pay increases as well as compensation for troops at risk and is widely supported by Republicans.
