Editing Strategic Petroleum Reserve (United States) (section)

===Background===
The SPR was created following the [[1973 energy crisis]]. On November 18, 1974, the United States became a signatory to the Agreement on an International Energy Program (IEP) and a founding member of the [[International Energy Agency]] that the IEP established.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lansford |first=Tom |title=Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021 |publisher=CQ Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-5443-8473-3 |pages=1833 |language=en}}</ref> One of the key commitments made by the treaty's signatories is to maintain oil stocks of no less than 90 days of net imports.<ref>{{Cite web |last=[[International Energy Agency]] |date=July 2020 |title=Oil Security Toolkit |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-security-toolkit |access-date=16 May 2022 |publisher=IEA}}</ref>

Access to the reserve is determined by the conditions written into the 1975 [[Energy Policy and Conservation Act]] (EPCA), primarily to counter a severe supply interruption. The maximum removal rate, by physical constraints, is {{convert|4.4|Moilbbl/d|m3/d}}. Oil could begin entering the marketplace 13 days after a presidential order.<ref>{{cite web |title=Strategic Petroleum Reserve |url=https://www.energy.gov/fecm/strategic-petroleum-reserve-3#Q12 |website=Energy.gov |language=en}}</ref> The Department of Energy says it has about 59 days of import protection in the SPR.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Senate Report |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-081323-8 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref> This, combined with private sector inventory protection, is estimated to equal 115 days of imports.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The EPCA of December 22, 1975, made it policy for the United States to establish a reserve up to 1 billion barrels (159 million m³) of petroleum. A number of existing storage sites were acquired in 1977. Construction of the first surface facilities began in June 1977. On July 21, 1977, the first oil—approximately {{convert|412000|oilbbl|m3}} of Saudi Arabian light crude—was delivered to the SPR. Fill was suspended in Fiscal Year 1995 to devote budget resources to refurbishing the SPR equipment and extending the life of the complex.