The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday limiting the ability of the energy secretary to tap the strategic oil reserve without developing plans to increase the amount of public lands available for oil and gas drilling.

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday limiting the ability of the energy secretary to tap the strategic oil reserve without developing plans to increase the amount of public lands available for oil and gas drilling.

Representatives backed the bill 221 to 205, with support from only one Democrat. President Joe Biden would veto the legislation should it pass Congress, the White House said this week. The bill is expected to face an uphill battle in the Senate, which unlike the House, is controlled by Biden's fellow Democrats.The Strategic Production Response Act, or H.R.21, requires the U.S. energy secretary to develop a plan to increase oil and gas leasing on federal lands, including submerged ones on the Outer Continental Shelf, before tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It would not stop the president from tapping the SPR in case of an emergency, such as a hurricane that halts production of crude.

Republicans, who took control of the House this month, have pushed a series of political messaging bills that appeal to conservative voters.

Republican backers of the bill said the Biden administration acted recklessly in selling 180 million barrels from the reserve last year, or 1 million barrels a day for six months, in the biggest release ever. That drawdown and others Biden approved have pushed the level of the SPR to its lowest level since 1983.

The SPR should be used only to address true emergencies, said Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican and chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"President Biden has turned a longtime bipartisan strategic asset, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, into a political tool to cover up the consequences of his expensive rush-to-green agenda," said Rodgers.

The Biden administration, which is pursuing an aggressive policy to curb climate change by supporting the energy transition off fossil fuels, has said it sold the oil to counter gasoline prices that had risen to $5.00 a gallon and helped fuel the highest inflation levels in decades. Oil prices spiked last year on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and as the world began to emerge from the pandemic.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House this week that Biden "will not allow the American people to suffer because of the backwards agenda that House Republicans are advancing."

Representatives backed the bill 221 to 205, with support from only one Democrat. President Joe Biden would veto the legislation should it pass Congress, the White House said this week. The bill is expected to face an uphill battle in the Senate, which unlike the House, is controlled by Biden's fellow Democrats.

The Strategic Production Response Act, or HR21, requires the US energy secretary to develop a plan to increase oil and gas leasing on federal lands, including submerged ones on the Outer Continental Shelf, before tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It would not stop the president from tapping the SPR in case of an emergency, such as a hurricane that halts production of crude.Republicans, who took control of the House this month, have pushed a series of political messaging bills that appeal to conservative voters.

Republican backers of the bill said the Biden administration acted recklessly in selling 180 million barrels from the reserve last year, or 1 million barrels a day for six months, in the biggest release ever. That drawdown and others Biden approved have pushed the level of the SPR to its lowest level since 1983.

The SPR should be used only to address true emergencies, said Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican and chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"President Biden has turned a longtime bipartisan strategic asset, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, into a political tool to cover up the consequences of his expensive rush-to-green agenda," said Rodgers.

The Biden administration, which is pursuing an aggressive policy to curb climate change by supporting the energy transition off fossil fuels, has said it sold the oil to counter gasoline prices that had risen to $5.00 a gallon and helped fuel the highest inflation levels in decades. Oil prices spiked last year on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and as the world began to emerge from the pandemic.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House this week that Biden "will not allow the American people to suffer because of the backwards agenda that House Republicans are advancing."

“At a time when gas prices are on the rise, Secretary Granholm and the Biden administration need to be transparent with the American people about their efforts to cover up how they’ve abused the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as an election-year gimmick,” said Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Washington Republican who authored the bill. “Republicans want durable, long-lasting relief at the pump.”

Read more: White House says GOP energy bills will boost fuel costs

The White House has said the release of oil from the reserve was needed to address price spikes caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing supply disruptions. And it has accused the GOP of trying to raise gasoline prices for Americans by pushing the legislation, while touting the fact that costs at the pump have dropped about 30% from highs that peaked at more than $5 a gallon last summer.

“The bill would significantly weaken a critical energy security tool, resulting in more oil supply shortages and higher gas prices for working families,” the White House said in a statement regarding the House legislation, H.R. 21. “By interfering with the United States’ ability to release oil collectively, this legislation would help Putin’s war aims.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Friday aimed at limiting the president’s ability to draw down the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve for any reason other than a “severe energy supply disruption.”

The law is meant to prevent a repeat of President Joe Biden’s numerous withdrawals from the SPR in 2022 that Republicans contend were intended to lower consumer gas prices ahead of the midterm elections

The bill passed on a near party-line vote, 221-205, after more than six hours of individual House votes on various proposed amendments.

Titled the Strategic Production Response Act, the legislation passed Friday would prohibit any new drawdowns on the SPR until federal agencies had developed a plan to lease federal lands for oil and gas production “by the same percentage as the percentage of petroleum ... that is to be drawn down,” according to the bill’s text.

Despite passing the House, the legislation is all but certain never to be signed into law. It lacks the support to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has said Biden will veto it if it ever comes to his desk.

Days before the vote, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at a White House press briefing that the bill “would impose unnecessary, unhelpful restrictions on when the SPR can be used to help provide supply.”

“It would not offer any tangible benefits to the American people,” Granholm told reporters. “Instead, it would interfere with our ability to be responsive during an international emergency ... a natural disaster or a pipeline outage at home.”

The White House has long argued that the releases from the SPR in the past year were necessary to offset the surge in pump prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Republicans counter that the size of the overall 2022 release, 180 million barrels, was excessive, and that individual releases and announcements about future releases were timed for maximum political benefit for Democrats.

Over the last year, the total oil in the reserve shrunk to about 380 million barrels, its lowest since 1984, raising concerns about energy security.

When Biden took office in 2021, the SPR contained 638 million barrels.

Friday’s legislation marked the second time that the GOP-controlled House has passed a bill related to the SPR. The first one prohibited the sale of petroleum reserves to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. It passed with bipartisan support.

Following Friday’s passage, the bill’s chief sponsor, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, applauded the vote.

“President Biden has turned a longtime bipartisan strategic asset, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, into a political tool to cover up the consequences of his expensive rush-to-green agenda,” she said in a statement.

The legislation “provides a path towards making energy more affordable and reliable for Americans by preserving the SPR’s vital and central purpose — to provide the oil supplies Americans need during true emergencies, not drain them away for non-emergency, political purposes,” she added.