Questionable Suitability of Certain Salt Caverns and Mines for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to create a strategic petroleum reserve to protect against disruptions in energy supplies. DOE plans to store 1 billion barrels of crude oil in salt caverns and mines by December 1985. Although DOE has not yet estimated the cost to store 1 billion barrels, it did estimate the cost to store 750 million barrels at $14.4 billion.