In 1973, during the Arab-Israeli War, OPEC imposed an embargo against the United states. The Embargo put a big strain on the U.S. economy which had grown increasingly dependent on foreign oil. Oil prices skyrocketed, and consumers had to wait in long lines at the gas pump. In response, President Gerald Ford asked congress to act by creating a comprehensive approach to federal energy policy. Besides increasing supply and decreasing demand, President Ford also wanted to give the executive branch additional power to respond to disruptions in the energy supply. In 1975, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) which established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). A number of sites were acquired in 1977, and the first barrels of oil were purchased from Saudi Arabia.
In 1975, President Ford announced his energy plan and asked congress to take action on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
"These proposals and actions, cumulatively, can reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies from 3 to 5 million barrels per day by 1985. To make the United States invulnerable to foreign disruption, I propose standby emergency legislation and a strategic storage program of 1 billion barrels of oil for domestic needs and 300 million barrels for national defense purposes."Today, the petroleum reserves contain 727 million barrels of oil or about a 90 day supply. After 1975, America did begin to reduce it's dependence on foreign oil, but in 1985 it began to rise again until net imports of oil peaked in 2005 at about 12 million barrels of oil per day.
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