Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), in a bipartisan effort led with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), on Wednesday introduced legislation to prohibit the Biden administration selling crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China or any company controlled by China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Manchin said in the release, “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a vital piece of our nation’s infrastructure that bolsters our energy and national security. While the reserve has been a policy Band-Aid for rising gas prices and the global unrest caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the reserve is, above-all, meant to help the United States and our allies through difficult times, not to help the CCP power China’s economy.
“This bill would ensure that we are not risking our energy security by selling our petroleum reserves to China, and the bipartisan support this legislation has received shows just how important it is for America to be energy secure and independent.”
America’s Oil Reserves Dwindle as China’s Grow
According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) statistics, starting in January 2020 and running through November 2022, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was reduced by approximately 240 million barrels, falling from around 635 million barrels to 388 million.Reuters, citing information provided by data analytics firm Kayrros, noted that China had grown its reserves by 30 million barrels since mid-November 2022. The firm put total crude oil inventories in China, derived from satellite monitoring of tanks, at a total of 950 million barrels.
A bill similar in intent and scope easily passed the GOP-controlled House on a bipartisan vote in early January.
Cruz has long been sounding the alarm about threats to American security posed by the strategic oil reserve being depleted while China grows its fuel holdings.
Bipartisan Efforts
In the 118th Congress—as economic, political, and defense tensions continue to rise between Beijing and U.S. allies—a sweet spot of Democratic-Republican cooperation has been forged with the intent of disrupting and blocking CCP activity in America and abroad that jeopardizes national security.On Jan. 10, the House passed, with a vote of 365-65, the bill Establishing the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
US Allies and China, Military Rivals
Not just politicians see a CCP-led China as a growing threat.A flashpoint for armed conflict between the superpowers is the self-ruled island of Taiwan, a liberal democracy that since 1949 has been governed independently as the Republic of China (ROC), even as the United States and most nations officially recognize the CCP and its People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland.
The CCP maintains that Taiwan is a rogue state. It seeks to bring the island nation, located approximately 80 miles off the mainland, under its socialist jurisdiction. With the iron-fisted Xi Jinping as the head of the PRC, the country has increased military activity near Taiwan and in its airspace.
The United States does not hold a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan as it does with Japan and South Korea, countries that would be imperiled if the CCP invaded Taiwan and expanded its jurisdiction in the Pacific.
“I hope I am wrong,” wrote Gen. Minihan. “My gut tells me we will fight. Xi secured his third term and set his war council in 2022. Taiwan’s presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a reason.”