GOP Senators Introduce Bill Barring U.S. Oil Exports To China, Other Foreign Adversaries

Following reports that the United States has been sending millions of barrels of oil to China and other foreign countries despite record high gas prices, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a bill that will ensure that reserves sold from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) are not sent to countries that are adversaries of the United States.

Joining Cruz as co-sponsors of the bill are Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Joni Ernst (R-IA), James Lankford (R-OK), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Jim Inhofe (R-OK).

According to a press release from Cruz’s office, the No Emergency Crude Oil for Foreign Adversaries Act “would block future SPR auctions from selling oil to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. It permits a waiver for national security reasons, and requires the Department of Energy to report the destination of exported oil from recent SPR auctions.”

“At a time of skyrocketing inflation and record gas prices, and with SPR drained to its lowest level since 1986, it is reckless and inexplicable that President Biden would allow oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be exported to China,” Sen. Cruz said. “This practice poses a direct threat to American national security, not least of all because the Chinese Communist Party is currently stockpiling oil for strategic use, and the Biden administration is aiding their effort.”

“President Biden crushed American energy production and then sold our strategic oil reserves to China, all while claiming to care about the high prices Americans were paying at the pump,” co-sponsor Sen. Hawley said. “This should never have been allowed to happen. Congress must pass legislation to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The legislation comes after a report from Reuters revealed that “More than 5 million barrels of oil that were part of a historic U.S. emergency reserves release to lower domestic fuel prices were exported to Europe and Asia last month, according to data and sources, even as U.S. gasoline and diesel prices hit record highs.” At least one cargo of crude oil was sent to China and another to India, according to the report.