U.S. Northeast heating oil reserve approved

The U.S. Senate approved the creation of a 2 million barrel home heating oil reserve for the Northeast last week, while the recent release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve continued to make headlines.

The legislation also renews the president’s authority, which expired March 31, to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a 600 million barrel stockpile in Texas and Louisiana set aside by law for emergencies.

The Northeast has been hit the hardest with low heating oil inventories and high fuel prices. With a colder winter predicted than the last few years and heating oil and diesel inventories below normal, analysts fear a shortage of heating oil this winter — which could mean a replay of last winter’s diesel price spikes in the region.

The legislation passed last week gives the energy secretary the go-ahead to operate a 2 million barrel reserve, which is separate from the SPR, in emergency situations. The bill was approved by the House in April and the two versions of the bill must be reconciled before it’s passed on to the president for his signature.

Meanwhile, President Clinton’s original decision to release 30 million barrels from the SPR is being criticized by an Energy Department official.

-Truckinginfo.com