The Senate voted on Thursday to bar China from purchasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to protect the U.S. emergency stockpile after it was drained to a 40-year low.
Lawmakers voted 85 to 14 to pass the legislation, which was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, or the NDAA.
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The legislation would ban the sale of SPR oil to any company under the control of the Chinese Communist Party or to Russia, Iran, North Korea, or any other country sanctioned by the United States.
It comes as President Joe Biden's historic release of SPR oil has prompted concerns about the structural integrity of the reserves and sparked criticism that the administration has not acted quickly enough to refill them.
“The original intent of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was to ensure that America had sufficient oil reserves in the event of an emergency,” Cruz said in a statement.
“We are unnecessarily and dangerously undermining our national security in any instance that we sell any part of this stockpile to the Chinese Communist Party or any company under its control. I’m proud to lead the bipartisan effort to stop this from happening in the future and unleash American energy," Cruz added.
Biden ordered the sale of 180 million barrels from the SPR last March in an effort to lower soaring oil and gas prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Biden administration told reporters that the drawdowns helped reduce U.S. gas prices by 40 cents per gallon. U.S. gasoline prices rose last June to a record-high national average of more than $5 per gallon.
That sale was the largest single drawdown of the SPR since its creation in 1983, draining it to a 40-year low and prompting fears that the U.S. might not have adequate supplies to respond in the event of a supply crisis, such as a national emergency or natural disaster.
Republicans, and Manchin, have taken umbrage with Biden’s oil sales, which they viewed as a largely politically motivated tool to lower gas prices ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
They have also cited concerns about what they view as a lack of intent from the administration to begin refilling the reserves.
Currently, the U.S. is legally required to sell its crude to the highest bidder, with exceptions granted only in limited circumstances — and, as the Department of Energy notes on its website, once companies purchase the oil, the U.S. government has no authority to dictate where it is shipped.
It’s not the first attempt by Congress to ban SPR sales to China. The House voted 331-97 to approve the Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act in January, which sought to prohibit all direct or indirect sales of SPR oil to China. That legislation never reached the Senate floor for a vote.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm vowed earlier this month that the administration would begin refilling the SPR, though she acknowledged it might not be during Biden’s term.
“The bottom line is we are going to replenish,” Granholm told CNN in an interview, though she indicated that a complete replenishment of the sold barrels is unlikely.
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“The first term’s over in a year and a half. So I’m not sure it’ll be fully replenished. But certainly, the plan is this term and the next term to be able to do that,” Granholm said.