GOP-Led House Votes to Ban Sale of Oil Reserves to China

Ari Natter
·2 min read
1

(Bloomberg) -- The US House of Representatives voted Thursday to bar selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, as Republicans use their newly-minted majority to shine a spotlight on the Biden administration’s historic drawdown from the emergency supplies.

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The measure passed on a bipartisan 331-97 vote, but it’s not likely to be taken up in the Democratically-controlled Senate. The effort previews more actions by Republicans to demonstrate their opposition to the president’s decision to release 180 million barrels from the nation’s oil reserve.

The release, which is also the subject of an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, has been criticized by Republicans as a ploy to lower gas prices before the November midterm elections.

The GOP has also raised flags about the administration’s use of the emergency reserve, alleging the Energy Department transferred 900,000 barrels of oil to Unipec America Inc., a subsidiary of Communist Party owned Sinopec Corp. and the recipient of billions of dollars of investment by BHR Partners, a private equity firm where Hunter Biden, the president’s son, was a founding board member.

Read more: House Republicans launch probe of Biden’s SPR release

The White House has said the Energy Department is required by law to sell the SPR oil in a competitive auction to the highest bidder, regardless of whether the bidder is a foreign company. It has also said that the release of oil from the reserve last year was needed to address price spikes caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing supply disruptions.

The legislation, sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers , would prohibit the Energy Department from selling crude oil from the SPR to any entity that is under ownership or control of the Chinese Communist Party, according to a summary. It would also require that as a condition of sale, the oil would not be exported to China.

“America’s SPR is meant for true energy supply disruptions, like those caused by hurricanes and natural disasters, not to help China,” Rodgers said in remarks on the House floor. “Draining our strategic reserves for political purposes and selling portions of it to China is a significant threat to our national security.”

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