Democratic Members led effort to push President to deploy SPR to reduce prices for American families and small businesses, tamp down speculation

WASHINGTON – Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) will hold a press conference on today’s announcement that the Obama administration has decided open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) along with additional support from international partners.

The release follows months of calls by these members of Congress on the administration to follow their legislation and release at least 30 million barrels of oil from the SPR.

The action from the Department of Energy today will also include an additional release of 30 million barrels from international partners such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea.

The Enhanced SPR Act, (H.R. 1017) directs the Department of Energy to release at least 30 million barrels of oil from the SPR. That legislation also directs DOE to subsequently replace the crude oil with refined product like gasoline or diesel fuel when prices are low to enhance the security and flexibility of the SPR.

What: Reps. Ed Markey, Peter Welch and Rosa DeLauro on release of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
When: 1:00 PM, Thursday, June 23

Who:  Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)

Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)

Where: HVC Studio A

The information included in this advisory is for planning purposes only and not for publication.

###