Naval Petroleum Reserve No 1 Efforts To Sell The Reserve Report To The Chairman Committee On Appropriations House Of Representatives PDF Download

For several years, the administration has proposed selling the government's ownership interest in the Naval Petroleum Reserves (NPR), on the basis of a claim that it would help reduce the federal budget deficit. The administration's latest proposal, made in February 1989, called for the sale of the reserves in fiscal year 1990. The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that if the NPRs are sold in 1990, proceeds from a sale could be about $3.4 billion. The Naval Petroleum Reserve at Elk Hills, California (NPR-1) is the largest of the reserves and is jointly owned with Chevron, U.S.A. Inc. One of the key problems that DOE faces in analyzing the government's ownership interest in NPR-1 is that reserve data are not up-to- date and accurate. In February 1988, DOE's Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy testified before the House Committee on Budget that a reserve report was being prepared for NPR-1 to produce firm reserve estimates so that potential bidders would know how much oil is in the ground. DOE hired a firm to prepare a comprehensive reserve report for NPR-1, which was delivered in July 1988. Citing the need for an independent assessment of DOE's efforts to sell NPR-1, the Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Power, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, asked GAO to review and analyze the accuracy of the new reserve data presented in the July 1988 reserve study. jg p.3.