ILTA Tells President Trump it is Not Opposed to SPR Leasing During COVID-19

ILTA in a April 29 letter to President Trump said it was not opposed to the federal government leasing crude oil storage space in the nation’s emergency stockpile, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, during COVID-19, but that it strongly opposes using the SPR in such a way during nonemergency situations.

“Considering today’s exceptional circumstances, ILTA has no objection to the administration’s plans to lease storage capacity in Strategic Petroleum Reserve locations to commercial interests.” ILTA President Kathryn Clay wrote. On April 14, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced his department had awarded contracts to store a total of 23 million barrels of the 30 million barrels initially offered in the reserve, with the first deliveries taken the last week of April.  

“Once normal market conditions are re-established, ILTA would oppose further government actions in commercial storage markets,” she wrote. “Allowing government-owned storage into the market constitutes a subsidized storage service that could place private commercial storage operators at a competitive disadvantage.”

ILTA sent the letter to reporters, and it was picked up in Reuters, Bloomberg, E&E News and many terminal and energy trade publications.