Status of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Activities as of December 31, 1983

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO presented its quarterly report on progress in filling, developing, and operating the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This report discusses SPR activities during the first quarter of fiscal year 1984.

GAO found that about 18.1 million barrels of oil were added to the SPR during the quarter, bringing the total oil in the SPR to about 379.1 million barrels. The average fill rate for the quarter was about 196,700 barrels per day, about 10,700 barrels per day higher than the minimum average annual rate required by law. GAO also noted that: (1) the Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, which now has SPR project management responsibility, issued a report during the quarter which assessed the status of the SPR, discussed problems in project management, and recommended improvements; (2) permanent storage capacity development efforts proceeded on schedule during the quarter; and (3) payments during the quarter for oil delivery and transportation were about $539 million. In addition, GAO discussed other SPR issues, including: (1) a recent SPR contractor report of corrosion problems in an SPR pipeline; (2) an SPR contractor's efforts to sell a terminal which services an SPR site; and (3) Defense Fuel Supply Center efforts to collect overpayments for oil received by the SPR.