House passes bill tying oil reserve sales to federal leasing

After two days of debate on 78 amendments, the House on Friday passed by a vote of 221-205 a bill that would tie nonemergency use of the petroleum reserve to plans for increased fossil fuel development on public lands, but the measure is unlikely to become law.

The bill introduced by Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., would require that for each percentage point of crude oil taken from the strategic petroleum reserve, the Energy Department must develop a plan to increase production by an equal percentage.

The bill stands little chance of passage in the Senate, and the Biden administration has already promised to veto the legislation. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm criticized the bill in a letter to congressional leaders and at a White House press conference, and said it “would significantly weaken this critical energy security tool.”

By bringing the bill to the House floor, Republicans gave themselves an opportunity to criticize the administration’s energy policies and force Democratic lawmakers to record votes regarding those policies.

Last year the Biden administration conducted an emergency sale in response to volatility in the energy market spurred in large part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Treasury Department estimated that this move helped reduce gas prices by 40 cents per gallon nationally. As Congress voted, the average price per gallon stood at $3.51, according to AAA, down from a record of just over $5 per gallon last June.