Energy:

Status of Security Measures to Prevent Oil Flow Disruptions

T-RCED-89-3, Dec 7, 1988

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GAO provided unclassified information from a classified report regarding the Department of Energy's (DOE) security program for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. GAO found that program goals are to: (1) limit site access to the extent feasible; and (2) develop recovery plans that would allow DOE to restore full operational capability within 15 to 30 days after an oil flow disruption. GAO also found that: (1) although DOE made improvements in the program, DOE inspections and evaluations still revealed various security problems; (2) DOE relied on one contractor to repair pipeline damage, although officials believed that an emergency could require multiple contractors; and (3) the DOE objective of restoring full drawdown capabilities within 15 to 30 days of disruption was not feasible, since simulated damage during security exercises exceeded that used in the recovery-planning assumption.