In December 1975, with memories of gas pipelines fresh in American minds as a result of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, Congress established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The law was designed to reduce “the impact of serious disruptions in energy supplies” such as those caused by the embargo. This crude oil is stored in underground salt caverns at four major oil fields in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. There are two locations in Texas and two…