quote:
The Trump Administration is looking for innovative ways to tap more crude from federal lands as the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is being depleted again by emergency stock releases amid the global supply shock from the Iran war.

One of these creative new ways to refill the SPR could be the potential tapping of oil from land at U.S. military bases or other sites of the Department of War, a source with knowledge of private information told Bloomberg this week.

For the second time in four years, the U.S. Administration is releasing barrels from the SPR to help curb the spike in oil prices. This year’s release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is part of the 400-million-barrel global release of emergency stocks coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

This has seen SPR stocks sink to 392 million barrels as of May 1. That’s higher than the low point of 347 million barrels in June 2023 during President Biden’s term in office, but it is still close to the lowest levels of SPR stocks since the 1980

quote:
Apart from arranging the stocks release as an exchange, in which companies should eventually return the crude with interest, the Trump Administration is considering creative ways of filling the SPR, including potentially with crude drilled from U.S. military sites.

The advantage for the Administration is that it will own the crude without having to purchase it from private companies.

Tapping oil under military bases is not unheard of. For example, oil drilling has been allowed for decades at the Barksdale Air Force Base east of Bossier City in Louisiana.

quote:
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has hinted in recent weeks that the U.S. might consider tapping crude at military bases.

“We have military bases or facilities that are in the middle of oil fields, but there is no development under those resources — that’s crazy. It’s right there,” Secretary Wright said at a recent event held by the Wall Street Journal.

“We will see some creative things,” the official added, noting that the Trump Administration is looking “to do pragmatic things” with federal energy resources. According to the Energy Secretary, the U.S. needs “creative ways” to refill the reserve.

Even if the Administration decides to drill for oil at military bases, any production wouldn’t impact the SPR and the high energy prices in the short term.

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