The SAVE Act is a straightforward energy security measure that prevents the U.S. government from selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to certain countries and companies. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a massive stockpile of crude oil that the government keeps for emergencies, like supply disruptions or natural disasters.

Under this bill, the Department of Energy cannot sell oil from this reserve to any companies based in Russia. Additionally, it blocks sales to companies headquartered in eight other countries: Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela. These countries are already restricted from buying certain military equipment and technology from the U.S., and this bill extends those restrictions to include oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Basically, this is about making sure America's emergency oil supply doesn't end up supporting countries that the U.S. government considers adversaries or has other concerns about. It's a way to use energy policy as a tool to enforce existing foreign policy restrictions and protect national interests.

SAVE Act

Bice, Stephanie I.

Save America&rsquo;s Valuable Energy Act or the SAVE Act This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to prohibit the sale of petroleum products (e.g., crude oil) from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to certain entities. Specifically, DOE must prohibit the sale of petroleum products from the SPR to entities headquartered in Russia. Further, DOE must prohibit the sale of petroleum products from the SPR to entities headquartered in countries (Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela) that are subject to certain prohibitions concerning exports of defense articles and services under the Department of State's International Traffic in Arms Regulations.