Status of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Activities as of June 30, 1984

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reported on the Department of Energy's (DOE) progress in filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and in complying with the requirements of applicable law during the third quarter of fiscal year 1984.

GAO found that: (1) DOE is pursuing improvements to the SPR oil distribution system which would connect SPR storage sites by pipeline to two Gulf Coast refining centers and would give the sites access to four more marine terminals; (2) DOE added about 21.9 million barrels of oil at an average fill rate of 241,000 barrels per day; (3) electrical equipment malfunctions at the West Hackberry SPR storage site shut down the storage cavern development program for about 23 days; (4) a report was issued on SPR internal accounting control and administrative control procedures for oil receipts; and (5) the DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office continued to move toward consolidating the responsibilities of several current SPR contractors. The report also presented information concerning the SPR Project Management Office and the backlog of maintenance work at SPR facilities.