Strategic Petroleum Reserve: How Congress Accidentally Saved Us Millions

(MoneyWatch)  Two years ago Congress tried -- and failed -- to control gas prices by stopping U.S. purchases of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But wait -- not all was lost. Congress accidentally saved taxpayers more than $600 million.

A bill, introduced and passed in spring 2008, prevented the U.S. Treasury from buying oil for the remainder of 2008 or until barrels fell under $75. The idea, at the time, was that halting the purchase of around 70,000 barrels of crude a day would lessen upward pressure on oil prices. We now know this was merely a drop in our energy-consuming bucket and gas prices would rise anyway. But the government ended up saving millions because, yup, you guessed right, it stopped buying super expensive oil.

The timing of the bill was impeccable and coincided with record rise in oil prices. In mid-May 2008, when the Senate passed the bill, oil was nearly $120 a barrel. By July, oil hit a record $147 a barrel before going into a free fall and dropping to $32 a barrel in December.

The intent of the bill was to put downward pressure on gas prices -- not necessarily to save taxpayers money. But who cares, right? At least we all saved $600 million. Maybe I'm quibbling over small stuff here, but I figure it's fair game since Congress is patting itself on the back for its foresight and a job well done. For example, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the bill's co-sponsor, said this in a recent statement.

It made no sense for the government to continue buying oil at that high price and put it underground when the Strategic Reserve was already 97 percent filled. I felt that it was going to be a waste of the taxpayers' money. It wasn't rocket science.

And he's absolutely right. Except that at the time, Dorgan was shooting for a different goal. Or at the very least, if that the goal was to save the Treasury money, no one was aware of it. Instead it was sold as a way to rescue Americans from skyrocketing gas prices. Here's what Dorgan had to say back in 2008 about gas prices and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

How much higher do energy prices have to go before this Administration stops putting oil underground, and instead starts putting some downward pressure on gas prices? Sky-high gas prices are crushing American drivers.

The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline has reached a new record high of $3.22 per gallon. One year ago, oil was trading at $60.05 per barrel, and the average retail price of gasoline was $2.53 per gallon. The Administration's oil fill policy is contributing to this price increase.

With oil and gas prices at record highs, it makes no sense to take more oil off the market and sticking it underground.

The intent of the bill back in 2008 gives us a glimpse into a world where most of us including many in Congress didn't understand diddly about the oil market and its relationship to gas prices. As Heating Oil notes, this was a time when folks were scrambling to anything to push oil and gas prices down and floated various proposals including levying more taxes on oil companies and opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

Photo of cash from Flickr user TruthAbout's, CC 2.0