Editing Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States) (section)

== Facilities ==
[[File:Strategic Petroleum Reserves, United States.jpg|thumb|Strategic Petroleum Reserves, United States, 2018.]]
The SPR management office is located in [[Elmwood, Louisiana]], a suburb of [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]].

The reserve is stored at four sites on the [[Gulf of Mexico]], each located near a major center of petrochemical refining and processing. Each site contains a number of artificial caverns created in [[salt dome]]s below the surface.

Individual caverns within a site can be up to {{cvt|1000|m}} below the surface. Average dimensions are {{cvt|60|m}} wide and {{cvt|600|m}} deep; capacity ranges from {{convert|6|to|37|Moilbbl|m3}}. Almost $4 billion was spent on the facilities. The decision to store in caverns was made to reduce costs. The Department of Energy claims that it is approximately ten times more cost effective to store oil below the surface, with the added advantages of no leaks and a constant natural churn of the oil due to a temperature gradient in the caverns. The caverns were created by drilling down and then dissolving the salt with water.

===Existing===
* Bryan Mound: [[Freeport, Texas|Freeport]], [[Texas]]. 20 caverns with a storage capacity of {{convert|254|Moilbbl|m3}} with a drawdown capacity of {{convert|1.5|Moilbbl|m3}} per day.<ref>{{cite news |first = Brett |last = Clanton |url = http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5802887.html |title = Go past guards for tour of U.S. oil reserve in Freeport |newspaper = Houston Chronicle |date = May 27, 2008 |access-date = February 25, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="USEnergy">{{cite book |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081005012233/http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/reserves/spr/Plan_for_Expansion_to_1_billion_barrels.pdf |archive-date = October 5, 2008 |url = http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/reserves/spr/Plan_for_Expansion_to_1_billion_barrels.pdf |title = Strategic Petroleum Reserve Plan: Expansion to One Billion Barrels |page = 5 |publisher = United States Department of Energy |date = June 2007 }}</ref>
* Big Hill: [[Winnie, Texas|Winnie]], Texas. Has a capacity of {{convert|160|Moilbbl|m3}} with a drawdown capacity of {{convert|1.1|Moilbbl|m3}} per day.
* West Hackberry: [[Lake Charles, Louisiana|Lake Charles]], Louisiana. Has a capacity of {{convert|227|Moilbbl|m3}} with a drawdown capacity of {{convert|1.3|Moilbbl|m3}} per day.<ref name="USEnergy"/>
* Bayou Choctaw: [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]], Louisiana. Has a capacity of {{convert|76|Moilbbl|m3}} with a maximum drawdown rate of {{convert|550000|oilbbl|m3}} per day.

===Proposed===
* [[Richton, Mississippi|Richton]], Mississippi: This facility, if built as planned, would have had a capacity of {{convert|160|Moilbbl|m3}} with a drawdown capacity of {{convert|1|Moilbbl|m3}} per day.<ref name="USEnergy"/> Former Secretary of Energy [[Samuel Bodman]] announced the creation of this site in February 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2006/06071-New_SPR_Site_Chosen.html |title = DOE Takes Next Steps to Expand Strategic Petroleum Reserve to One Billion Barrels |publisher = United States Department of Energy |date = December 8, 2006 |access-date = February 25, 2012 }}</ref> As of 2008, this site was facing some opposition.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyle-oil-reserve-mississippi-dc-idUKN0447984320080404 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314091304/http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyle-oil-reserve-mississippi-dc-idUKN0447984320080404 |url-status = dead |archive-date = March 14, 2016 |title = Oil reserve site raises ire, Bush policy tested |publisher = [[Reuters]] |access-date = June 21, 2016 }}</ref> According to the DOE: "Activities towards the goal of expansion of the SPR to one billion barrels, as directed by Congress in the 2005 Act, were cancelled in 2011 after Congress rescinded all remaining expansion funds."<ref name=sprfaq />

===Retired===
* Weeks Island: [[Iberia Parish, Louisiana|Iberia Parish]], Louisiana (decommissioned 1999): Capacity of {{convert|72|Moilbbl|m3}}. This facility was a conventional [[room and pillar]] near-surface [[salt mine]], formerly owned by [[Morton Salt]]. In 1993, a [[sinkhole]] formed on the site, allowing fresh water to intrude into the mine. Because of the mine's construction in salt deposits, fresh water would erode the ceiling, potentially causing the structure to fail. The mine was backfilled with salt-saturated [[brine]]. This process, which allowed for recovery of 98% of the petroleum stored in the facility, reduced the risk of further [[fresh water]] intrusion, and helped prevent the remaining oil from leaking into the [[aquifer]] that is located over the salt dome.