The Beaten Path – The Strategic Petroleum Reserves

The United States Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SRP) are the largest emergency oil reserves in the world with the capacity to hold up to 727 million barrels. The oil reserves are divided into two different categories, sweet and sour. The term sweet refers to a maximum sulfur content of .50%, while sour allows for up to 1.99% sulfur content. Approximately 60% of the oil in reserves is the lesser desirable sour oil; and there is a $15 discount in value for each barrel of sour oil. As such, the total SPR value is estimated at $85 billion dollars.

The SPR was created during the 1973 energy crisis, and its first facilities were constructed in 1977. The SPR is strictly a crude oil reserve, and does not house gasoline, kerosene or diesel. That said, there are heating oil reserves in the U.S., however their capacities do not exceed 2 million barrels. Currently, there are four locations that make up the SPR, with another unit planned for the future. The current locations are all on or near the Gulf Coast and include: Bryan Mound in Freeport Texas; Big Hill in Winnie Texas; West Hackberry in Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Bayou Choctaw in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The future site, if built, will be in Richton, Mississippi.

The four current sites vary in capacity, with the smallest reserve being Bayou Choctaw with a capacity of 76 million barrels. The largest is Bryan Mound with a capacity of 254 million barrels. If the Richton plant is built as expected, it will add 160 million barrels of capacity. In the history of the SRP, one facility has been retired and that was Weeks Island in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. Its closure was due to the formation of a sinkhole in 1993 that would have eventually led to a collapse of its ceiling from fresh water flowing into the salt deposits on which it sat.

The SPR have only been tapped four times in their existence. The first came in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm; while in 1996 when President Clinton used it as a tool to bring down the deficit. The third tapping occurred in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina knocked out 95% of Gulf oil production; and then the fourth occurred recently with President Obama’s hope to bring down prices at the pump. President Obama released 30 million barrels, or the equivalent of 16 hours of global oil demand as the world uses about 86 million barrels of oil a day.

This last release has both its supporters and its detractors. Those against this move site the fact that since the release the price per barrel of home grown crude has actually increased. Others also state that this helped other leading nations – such as China – since oil operates on a global market, not just at home. Those for the move think it will help keep oil speculators in check, and perhaps, in the long term, lead to a reduction in fuel prices. As of now, the long term affects of President Obama’s move remain to be seen. But as the world population grows, and as industrialized nations seek to take higher stakes in the world arena, oil will continue to be a major bargaining tool and necessity here and abroad. Until other sources of energy can be reliably and efficiently produced, we haven’t heard the last about the price of oil.

Three of these images are 60-cm Natural Color images collected by QuickBird, and the fourth is a 50-cm Natural Color captured by WV-2 of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. QB images include: Big Hill (Winnie, Texas) captured on May 26, 2011; Bryan Mound (Freeport, Texas) captured on January 12, 2009; and West Hackberry (Lake Charles, Louisiana) captured on October 17, 2010. Bayou Choctaw (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) was collected May 27, 2011 by WorldView-2. The latter image is partially cut off due lack of coverage. This imagery has been processed with eMap’s proprietary technique, ImageBoost. (Image courtesy: DigitalGlobe))









Justin Harmon
Senior Editor


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