Congress is ready to cash in on SPR.

摘要

On July 21, a bipartisan group of US senators introduced a bill that would secure funding for US highways by selling about 15-101MM bbl-of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). It should be noted at the outset that the lawmakers have not taken leave of their senses-at least, no more than usual: the bill proposes selling the crude gradually over 2018 to 2025, not immediately while oil prices are still in a trough. Proponents of the bill say that the sale ? would generate a total of $9B (an average of $89.11/bbl) and that the proceeds could keep the US highway trust fund going for six years. Others, however, including Clearview Energy Partners co-founder Kevin Book and Rapidan Group founder Robert McNally, thought the oil unlikely to fetch so high a price, however. As it stands now, the bill would authorize the sale of 4MM bbl of oil in 2018, 5MM in 2019, 8MM in 2020 and 2021, 10MM in 2022, 16MM in 2023, and 25MM in 2024 and 2025.