The bill inserts a new Section 170 into the Energy Policy and Conservation Act that directs the Secretary of Energy to prohibit any sale of petroleum products drawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to entities headquartered in countries listed in table 1 to paragraph (d)(1) of 22 C.F.R. §126.1 as that table exists on the enactment date, and to entities headquartered in Russia. The textual ban applies “under any provision of law,” creating a categorical restriction on SPR sales to those buyers.
This is a targeted statutory narrowing of the SPR buyer pool that links SPR disposition directly to foreign-policy designations. The provision freezes the relevant foreign-country list as of enactment and leaves key operational details—definitions, exceptions, vetting procedures, and enforcement—unwritten, which will transfer significant implementation work and legal risk to the Department of Energy and contracting partners.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill amends EPCA by adding a new Section 170 that bars sales of SPR petroleum products to buyers headquartered in countries specified by a particular State Department/22 C.F.R. table (as it exists on enactment) and to Russia. The prohibition is expressed broadly to cover sales “under any provision of law.”
Who It Affects
The Department of Energy (which runs SPR drawdowns and sales), commercial counterparties to SPR sales (bidders, purchasers, intermediaries), and any entities whose corporate headquarters are located in the frozen CFR country list or in Russia. It also intersects with Treasury and State sanctions compliance functions.
Why It Matters
By codifying a buyer ban tied to a regulatory country list and freezing the list at enactment, the bill converts a foreign-policy designation into a hard constraint on energy-policy tools, constraining DOE’s commercial flexibility and creating new compliance duties for SPR transactions.
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What This Bill Actually Does
Under current law the Department of Energy can draw down and sell petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve under statutory authorities in EPCA. HB256 adds a stand-alone Section 170 to EPCA that tells the Secretary to prohibit sales of SPR petroleum products to any entity whose headquarters are located in a set of foreign countries identified by a particular State Department/22 C.F.R. list as it stands on the day the law is enacted, and to entities headquartered in Russia.
The bill therefore ties eligibility to buy SPR product to the buyer’s headquarters location and to a specific regulatory list.
Two drafting details matter for implementation: the bill ties the prohibition to “table 1 to paragraph (d)(1) under section 126.1 of title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment,” which freezes the list at that moment rather than incorporating future updates; and it applies the prohibition “under any provision of law,” which reaches sales conducted under any statutory authority or program. The text does not define “headquartered,” nor does it state whether ownership, control, or beneficial interest by covered-country nationals would trigger the ban.The bill also makes two short conforming edits: it amends EPCA section 161(a) to reference the new section and updates the Act’s table of contents.
Practically, DOE will need to create or expand buyer-screening and contracting processes to ensure compliance, determine how to treat subsidiaries and indirect ownership, and decide whether to exclude resale or transfer after sale. Because the statutory text contains no waiver, emergency exception, enforcement mechanism, or penalties, compliance will likely be enforced through DOE procurement rules, contract terms, and existing sanctions enforcement channels rather than a new statutory enforcement regime.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill adds Section 170 to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act requiring the Secretary of Energy to prohibit sales of SPR petroleum products to entities headquartered in countries listed in table 1 to paragraph (d)(1) of 22 C.F.R. §126.1 as of the law’s enactment, and to entities headquartered in Russia.
The prohibition applies broadly “under any provision of law,” meaning it covers all SPR sales authorities and programs rather than a single statutory pathway.
The bill explicitly freezes the relevant CFR country list “as in effect on the date of enactment,” so later additions or removals from that CFR table will not automatically change the ban.
Conforming edits amend EPCA section 161(a) to reference the new Section 170 and add Section 170 to the Act’s table of contents.
The statute contains no definition of “headquartered,” no waiver or emergency exception, and no standalone enforcement or penalty provisions; those gaps leave key implementation choices to DOE and other agencies.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Provides the Act name — the “Save America’s Valuable Energy Act” or “SAVE Act.” This is a nominal provision that does not affect substance but establishes the bill’s public label for statutory and regulatory references.
Prohibition on SPR sales to entities headquartered in specified countries
Adds new Section 170 to EPCA directing the Secretary to prohibit sales of petroleum products drawn from the SPR to any entity headquartered in (1) a country listed in table 1 to paragraph (d)(1) of 22 C.F.R. §126.1 as that table exists on the enactment date, or (2) Russia. The provision uses a broad locus—“under any provision of law”—so it is intended to reach sales conducted under any statutory authority. The reference to the CFR table as of the enactment date freezes the country list at that moment; DOE cannot rely on future changes to that CFR table to alter the ban absent new legislation.
Amendment to EPCA section 161(a)
Edits section 161(a) of EPCA to insert a cross-reference to the new Section 170. That change ensures the statutory drawdown-and-sale authority is read in conjunction with the new sales prohibition. Practically, it signals that every drawdown or sale authorized under EPCA must be conducted consistent with the prohibition, and it gives DOE a statutory hook to implement compliance through its existing SPR authorities.
Update to the table of contents
Adds an item for Section 170 to EPCA’s table of contents. This mechanical edit aids readability and statutory organization but has no operational effect beyond clarifying that the new prohibition is an integral part of the Act.
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Explore Energy in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- U.S. foreign-policy and sanctions officials — the statute aligns SPR dispositions with a defined foreign-policy-based country list and Russia designation, giving sanctions and foreign-affairs teams a statutory backstop against SPR sales to target-country firms.
- National-security proponents — by legally denying direct SPR sales to entities tied to specified countries, the bill reduces the risk that U.S.-drawn emergency petroleum supplies directly benefit actors identified as risky or adversarial.
- Domestic political constituencies and some downstream buyers — stakeholders who prioritize preventing strategic resources from flowing to certain foreign actors gain statutory certainty that SPR transactions will be constrained by the frozen list.
Who Bears the Cost
- Department of Energy — DOE must build, resource, and operate screening, contracting, and compliance processes to implement the buyer ban and litigate or defend compliance choices without statutory definitions or waiver procedures.
- Commercial counterparties and market intermediaries — traders, refiners, and purchasers will face a smaller permissible buyer pool, additional due diligence costs, and potentially longer contracting timelines for SPR sales.
- Entities headquartered in the covered countries and Russia — those entities (and potentially their subsidiaries) lose eligibility to purchase SPR product directly, which may affect commercial operations and access to emergency or commercial SPR supplies.
- Global oil-market participants and emergency-response planners — the restriction reduces one tool DOE could use to stabilize markets by limiting the universe of eligible buyers during a drawdown, potentially increasing market friction in emergency sales.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is practical: lawmakers want to prevent strategic U.S. energy from directly benefiting actors in countries the State Department identifies as risky, but imposing a categorical buyer ban (and freezing the governing country list) restricts DOE’s operational flexibility to use the SPR as a rapid market-stabilization and emergency tool; protecting national-security goals in the short term may reduce the SPR’s effectiveness in future supply shocks and shift significant interpretive and enforcement burdens to DOE and private parties.
The bill creates immediate implementation work because it freezes the CFR country list at enactment while leaving crucial terms undefined. Freezing the list removes administrative flexibility: if geopolitical conditions change or the State Department updates the CFR table, Congress would need to act to expand or contract the statutory ban.
The absence of a statutory definition of “headquartered” invites interpretive disputes about parent companies, foreign subsidiaries, and entities with split corporate structures — disputes that will matter in vetting bidders and could produce withheld sales or litigation.
Operationally, the statute contains no waiver, emergency exception, or enforcement clause, and no guidance on whether a subsequent private resale to an ineligible entity would violate the statute. That pushes enforcement onto DOE’s procurement and contract regimes and onto existing sanctions infrastructure, which may be capacious but will need clearer rules.
The broad “under any provision of law” language maximizes reach but raises questions about interaction with existing trade, sanctions, and export-control regimes — and about whether this statute could unintentionally block lawful, time-sensitive sales that DOE has historically relied on for market stabilization.
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