Aug 31 (Reuters) – The United States agreed on Friday to
loan Marathon Petroleum Corp 1 million barrels of oil
from emergency reserves as one of the company’s refineries
recovered from Hurricane Isaac.
The move was distinct from a broader sale from the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, last seen in 2011 as the Libyan civil
war removed about 1 million barrels per day from the global oil
market.
Isaac hit land as a hurricane, but lost steam and was
downgraded to a tropical storm.
Prior to Isaac, the White House had already considered a
release from the reserve, as tensions over Western sanctions on
Iran pushed up oil prices.
Congress created the SPR after the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo.
It holds up to 727 million barrels of crude oil in underground
salt caverns at four sites along the Texas and Louisiana coast.
The following lists oil sales and loans made by the U.S.
government from the reserve:
OIL SALES:
* June 2011 Libya war – Sold 30 million barrels.
* September 2005 Hurricane Katrina – Sold 11 million
barrels.
* 1996-97 Non-emergency sales – Sold 28.1 million barrels.
(5.1 million in Weeks Island sale to pay for decommissioning
of storage site and transfer of its oil; 12.8 million to reduce
the federal budget deficit; 10.2 million to pay for the cost of
operating the SPR).
* 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait – Sold 21 million
barrels (3.9 million in October 1990 test sale; 17.2 million in
January 1991 draw down ordered by president).
* November 1985 test sale – Sold 967,000 barrels.
OIL LOANS:
* August 2012 – Loaned 1 million barrels of crude to
Marathon Petroleum after Hurricane Isaac forced a Louisiana
refinery to cut rates.
* September 2008 – Loaned 5.4 million barrels of crude to
five oil companies after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike cut supplies.
* June 2006 – Loaned 750,000 barrels of sour crude to
ConocoPhillips and Citgo after the Calcasieu Ship
Channel closed and deliveries stopped to Louisiana refineries.
* January 2006 – Loaned 767,000 barrels of sour crude to
Total Petrochemicals USA after the Sabine Neches ship
channel closed and deliveries stopped to Texas refineries.
* September/October 2005 – Loaned 9.8 million barrels of
sweet and sour crude after Hurricane Katrina disrupted Gulf of
Mexico production and damaged terminals, pipelines and
refineries.
* September 2004 – Loaned 5.4 million barrels of sweet crude
due to disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane
Ivan.
* October 2002 – Loaned 98,000 barrels to Shell’s
Capline Pipeline to keep storage tanks full to withstand
Hurricane Lili’s winds.
* October 2000 – Loaned 30 million barrels to boost winter
heating oil supplies in the Northeast.
* August 2000 – Exchanged 2.8 million barrels of crude oil
for 2 million barrels of heating oil to create Northeast Home
Heating Oil Reserve.
* June 2000 – Loaned 500,000 barrels each to Citgo and
Conoco after the Calcasieu Ship Channel closed and blocked
crude oil shipments to Louisiana refineries.
* December 1998 to February 2000 – Exchanged 11 million
barrels of lower-quality heavy crude in SPR with Mexico’s PEMEX
for 8.5 million barrels of higher-quality sweet crude more
suitable for U.S. refineries.
* April 1996 – Loaned 900,000 barrels of SPR crude to ARCO
after company’s pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma, had blockage.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Dale
Hudson)
