US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

42 U.S.C. § 6234

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

(a)

Establishment

A Strategic Petroleum Reserve for the storage of up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum products shall be created pursuant to this part.

(b)

Authority of Secretary

The Secretary, in accordance with this part, shall exercise authority over the development, operation, and maintenance of the Reserve.

(c)

Pub. L. 106–469, title I, § 103(7)(C)114 Stat. 2030 to (e) Repealed. , ,

(f)

Purpose of drawdown and distribution; requests for funds for storage

(1)
section 6241 of this titlesection 6241 of this title The drawdown and distribution of petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is authorized only under , and drawdown and distribution of petroleum products for purposes other than those described in shall be prohibited.
(2)
In the Secretary’s annual budget submission, the Secretary shall request funds for acquisition, transportation, and injection of petroleum products for storage in the Reserve. If no requests for funds are made, the Secretary shall provide a written explanation of the reason therefore.

Pub. L. 94–163, title I, § 15489 Stat. 882Pub. L. 95–619, title VI, § 691(b)(2)92 Stat. 3288Pub. L. 102–486, title XIV, § 1402106 Stat. 2994Pub. L. 105–177, § 1(6)112 Stat. 106Pub. L. 106–469, title I, § 103(7)114 Stat. 2030(, , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 106–469, § 103(7)(A)2000—Subsec. (a). , amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) provided for the creation of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve of up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum products and required that the Reserve contain not less than 150 million barrels of petroleum products by the end of the 3-year period beginning on , and that the President take actions to enlarge the Reserve to 1,000,000,000 barrels as rapidly as possible beginning .

Pub. L. 106–469, § 103(7)(B)section 6421 of this titleSubsec. (b). , amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: “The Secretary, not later than , shall prepare and transmit to the Congress, in accordance with , a Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan. Such Plan shall comply with the provisions of this section and shall detail the Secretary’s proposals for designing, constructing, and filling the storage and related facilities of the Reserve.”

Pub. L. 106–469, § 103(7)(C)Subsecs. (c) to (e). , struck out subsecs. (c) to (e) which related to the levels of crude oil to be stored, plan objectives, and plan provisions.

Pub. L. 105–1771998—Subsec. (f). added subsec. (f).

Pub. L. 102–4861992—Subsec. (a). designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

Pub. L. 95–6191978—Subsecs. (b), (d). substituted “Secretary” and “Secretary’s” for “Administrator” and “Administrator’s”, respectively, meaning Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration, wherever appearing.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Drawdown Plan

Pub. L. 97–229, § 4(c)96 Stat. 252section 6239(e) of this title, , , required the President to transmit to Congress, on or before , and as an amendment to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan, a drawdown plan for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve consistent with the requirements of this section, to take effect on the date of transmittal and not be subject to relating to Congressional review.