{"id":1980020,"date":"2023-07-21T21:01:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T01:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cruz-and-manchin-join-forces-to-stop-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-stockpile\/"},"modified":"2023-07-21T21:02:21","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T01:02:21","slug":"cruz-and-manchin-join-forces-to-stop-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-stockpile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cruz-and-manchin-join-forces-to-stop-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-stockpile\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruz and Manchin unite to halt strategic stockpile oil sale."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcruz-and-manchin-join-forces-to-stop-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-stockpile%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1980020&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0722\/4fe763f0-e996-488a-9ea0-926784399455\/audio.mp3?length=4223565&#038;duration=352\"><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Senate passed an amendment to the \u200cannual defense bill on Thursday \u2064that would\u200d ban oil exports \u2063to China \u200cfrom the nation\u2019s Strategic\u2062 Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which sits half empty after President Joe Biden ordered a drawdown to reduce soaring \u200dinflation.<\/p>\n<p>The amendment, spearheaded by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)\u200d Joe \u2063Manchin\u2064 (D-W.V.) passed the upper \u2063chamber in a vote \u2063of 85-12 on\u200c July 20.<\/p>\n<p>The SPR, which was filled to\u200c its \u200dthen 727 million\u200c barrel storage capacity a little over a decade ago, has been depleted to\u2062 a multi-decade \u2064low of \u2062336 million barrels, the latest federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/ceser\/spr-quick-facts\">data shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Reduced levels of the \u200cstrategic stockpile have been the subject of controversy, as Republicans accused \u200cMr.\u200c Biden of drawing it\u200b down\u200d irresponsibly and depriving the \u2062nation of \u200can important\u2063 energy buffer in\u2062 case of\u200c emergencies.<\/p>\n<p>While the Biden administration has\u2063 pledged\u2062 to refill the reserve, it\u2019s a process that Energy\u200d Secretary Jennifer Granholm\u200c has said could\u2063 take years as\u200d a quick buyback program could lead \u2064to price spikes and revive inflationary pressures at a time when\u200c they remain uncomfortably high.<\/p>\n<p>In bipartisan fashion, \u200cthe Senate\u2062 has moved to shield the strategic stockpile\u2064 from further drawdowns that\u2064 would benefit America\u2019s adversaries,\u200d which\u2063 have been building up\u2063 their reserves.<\/p>\n<p>To this end, \u200cthe Senate on July \u206320 passed\u2063 an amendment (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruz.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/ndaa_spr_2023.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) to the \u2064National Defense Authorization Act\u2062 (NDAA) to ban sales of oil from\u2064 the strategic reserve to\u2064 China, North Korea, Iran, \u200band \u2062Russia.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5337345\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/06\/16\/id5337345-GettyImages-1487339607-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>SPR Oil Goes \u2063to\u200c China<\/h2>\n<p>Last July, in\u2063 a sale of 39 million barrels from the\u200c strategic stockpile that was part of the Biden-ordered total drawdown of around 180 million \u200bbarrels, around 1 \u200bmillion barrels\u2063 went to UNIPEC \u200bAmerica, a Houston-based arm of China\u2019s Sinopec. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/us-senate-backs-amendment-barring-oil-sales-china-spr-voting-continues-2023-07-20\/\">remove<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe \u2062know China\u200d has been amassing the largest \u200bstockpile of crude in the world. Nevertheless, last year, the United States sold off\u2063 part of our reserves to China,\u201d Mr. \u2062Cruz\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruz.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/senate-passes-cruz-amendment-prohibiting-sale-of-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-to-china-russia-iran-and-north-korea\">said in \u2062a statement<\/a>.\u2062 \u201cI \u200bhave been working \u2064with \u200cSenator \u2063Manchin to prohibit such inexplicably reckless moves\u200d in\u200b a bipartisan way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should not be selling our emergency oil reserves to our adversaries,\u201d Cruz added.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. \u200bManchin, who on a number of occasions\u200b has criticized the Biden administration\u2019s energy policies, took a similarly\u200c dim\u200d view of the United States \u2064depleting its petroleum stockpile.<\/p>\n<p>While \u200dthe United States ramped up production and exports to help\u2063 meet global demand as some \u200bcrude supply went offline in the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion\u200d of\u200d Ukraine, \u200csome other countries have taken\u200d a different approach \u200cto the energy \u2063crunch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina,\u2062 on the other \u200bhand, \u200bstockpiled oil and \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cruz-and-manchin-join-forces-to-stop-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-stockpile\/\" title=\"Cruz and Manchin unite to halt strategic stockpile oil sale.\">held \u200dback refinery production<\/a>, and while China\u200d was stockpiling, one of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-moves-to-block-sale-of-oil-from-strategic-petroleum-reserve-to-china-iran\/\" title=\"Senate blocks sale of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, Iran.\">state-owned companies purchased<\/a> over 1.4 million \u2063barrels from the United States of America, the people of our great country, from our own \u200dstock of reserves,\u201d Mr. Manchin said in a statement. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re \u2063trying to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5223431\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/04\/26\/id5223431-GettyImages-1426272213-1200x793.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<p>Some senators were against the measure. \u200cSen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who opposed the ban, \u2063said\u200c it \u201ccreates the illusion of solving a problem while \u200dhaving\u2062 very little political impact and likely doing more\u2063 harm than good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some analysts suggested the move was more symbolic than pragmatic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__full_width__ekUdw body__small_body__2vQyf article-body__paragraph__2-BtD\" data-testid=\"paragraph-10\">Benjamin Salisbury, an analyst at Height \u200dCapital Markets, said \u2064it was \u2063unlikely that a ban\u200c would\u200b have \u201cany systemic impact on \u200bthe functioning \u2063of the \u2064SPR, which is done through a competitive\u200c bid\u2063 in a \u2062relatively\u2063 liquid market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before the amendment can become law\u200b as part of the\u2063 defense\u2063 bill, the House and\u200d Senate \u2063need to go to conference to hammer out a final version of the\u2064 measure, which has to clear both chambers and be signed by Mr. Biden to enter into force.<\/p>\n<p>On July 18, the Senate voted\u2064 to \u200dbegin consideration of\u200c the defense bill, bringing it a step closer to final passage.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5378272\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/07\/06\/id5378272-07052023-DSC05856-US-Capitol-1200x800.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Senate Begins Consideration of Defense Bill<\/h2>\n<p>Senators voted 72 to 25 to invoke cloture on \u200dthe motion to proceed to its version of the bill, which sets \u2063forth policies for Department of Defense (DOD) programs and activities, as\u200c well as military\u200b construction, and the Department of \u200dEnergy\u2019s (DOE) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-confirms-kathleen-hicks-as-deputy-defense-secretary\/\" title=\"Senate Confirms Kathleen Hicks as Deputy Defense Secretary\">national security program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Senate approved an amendment to the defense bill, prohibiting oil exports to China from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. President Biden&#8217;s drawdown to combat inflation has left the reserve partially empty. The amendment, led by Senators Ted Cruz and Joe Manchin, successfully passed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":1980021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1980020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1980020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1980020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1980021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1980020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1980020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1980020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}