USA to Tap National Diesel Reserve

SUBSCRIBE SEARCH ARTICLES NEWS The Trump administration is tapping an emergency reserve of diesel set aside to heat homes in the Northeast. Image by Yarphoto via iStock

The Trump administration is tapping an emergency reserve of diesel set aside to heat homes in the Northeast as fuel prices are surging weeks before the midterm elections. 

The Energy Department plans to loan 315,000 barrels from the 1 million barrel Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, according to a statement Wednesday. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed by Nov. 13.

“This is a temporary measure to solve a temporary supply disruption,“ Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the statement.

The average price of diesel, which has hit record highs during the Iran war, is about $6.32 a gallon, according to AAA. About 4% of the nation’s households use heating oil, including in Maine, New Hampshire and Alaska — all of which are politically competitive. 

The diesel fuel reserve, housed in commercial storage facilities across the Northeast, was used in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 to provide fuel for emergency responders in New York and New Jersey, as well as in the wake of snowstorms that same year.

Created under former President Bill Clinton, the reserve is designed to provide the Northeast 10 days of supply, which is roughly the time it takes for ships to bring additional heating oil from the Gulf of Mexico to New York Harbor, according to the Energy Department.

The Trump administration last year proposed selling the reserve, which the Energy Department estimated would generate $100 million.

Wright said in the statement that the governors of New York and New England should approve a proposed pipeline that the Trump administration is pushing to build to bring more natural gas to the region. 

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