(Washington Composite Electric) The US Senate passed a amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to prohibit the export strategic oil reserve to China.
The Senate passed the amendment of 14 votes against 14 votes, surpassing the required 60 votes.The amendment was jointly proposed by Democratic Senator Manchin and Republican Senator Cruz that they believed that the ban would help protect US national security.In addition to China, the amendments are also prohibited from selling strategic oil reserves to Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
The House of Representatives also passed a similar bill this year to prohibit the sale of American strategic oil reserves to Chinese companies.
The House of Representatives and the Senate will enter the negotiation stage to reach the final version of the bill, and the president Biden signed the effect.
Last year, US Petroleum company exported 83 million barrels of oil to China.This year's oil exports to China have also risen, and as of April, it has exported more than 76 million barrels of oil to China.
The Russian and Ukraine War led to the surge in international oil prices. The Bayeng government announced the sale of 180 million barrels of strategic oil reserves last year to reduce energy prices and control inflation.It is currently at the level of 346.8 million barrels.
Although the United States has produced a large number of shale oil today, some members of Congress believe that the decline in strategic oil reserves has led the United States to lose its energy security.Some Republicans have criticized the Biden government to sell strategic oil reserves to reduce energy prices. It is disguised for the Democratic Party to elect the election in mid -November last year.
However, some members believe that the ban does not have much effect.Democratic Senator Murphy who opposed the ban believes that the ban has little influence in politics, and may even be greater than favorable, which has an illusion that the problem has been solved.
