DoE Hands the Keys to Strategic Crude Oil Stockpile to New Firm

The Department of Energy has awarded a new $1.4 billion contract to Strategic Storage Partners, LLC—hardly a household name—to manage the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)—America’s emergency stash of crude oil.

The new contract covers a five-year term with the option to extend for another five. After a transition period, Strategic Storage Partners will take over from the current SPR management firm, Fluor Federal Petroleum Operations (FFPO) on June 15, 2025.

The SPR is more than a rainy-day fund—it’s a key pillar of U.S. energy security. Stored in massive underground salt caverns at four sites in Texas and Louisiana, the reserve can hold up to 714 million barrels of crude. It’s been tapped in times of war, hurricanes, and—most recently—during the 2022 price surge, when 180 million barrels were released by the Biden Administration.

The contractor’s role is to keep the whole operation running. That includes facility maintenance, system integrity, emergency preparedness, and executing drawdowns when called upon. According to DOE, Strategic Storage Partners will handle the “operation and maintenance of facilities and related systems,” and will be expected to safeguard U.S. supply chains and economic stability.

This award replaces FFPO’s longstanding contract, which began in 2013 and, through extensions and modifications, ballooned to a total value of around $3.3 billion over 12 years. The new deal is not too far from that—$1.4 billion over five years—though DOE retains the option to renew for a second term.

DOE says the selection of the little-known company followed a “rigorous competitive process.” Strategic Storage Partners, a lesser-known name, now inherits a high-stakes job: managing the largest stockpile of crude oil on the planet, under the watchful eye of both markets and policymakers.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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