Desert Storm Triggers the SPR's First Emergency Drawdown
James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy
CONFIRMED87% CONFIDENCEDOE dates the authorisation to Bush's address of 16 January 1991 and the last of the 17.3 million barrels to 3 April 1991; the pin's exclusive end is the following midnight UTC.[1]
Hours after announcing allied air attacks on Iraq, President Bush ordered the first emergency sale in the reserve's history. The Energy Department released its sales notice on 17 January 1991 and eventually sold 17.3 million barrels to 13 companies, half of what it offered: bids for sour crude came in too low to accept.
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