The United States Remains Unprepared for Oil Import Disruptions

The United States Remains Unprepared for Oil Import Disruptions PDF

Author: United States. General Accounting Office

Publisher:

Published: 1981

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13:

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GAO examined the Federal Government's ability to cope with oil import disruptions, reported on the adequacy of the Department of Energy's (DOE) current contingency programs and organization for dealing with oil shortages, and suggested ways to strengthen the Nation's energy emergency preparedness. In order to examine present emergency preparedness, GAO examined emergency programs for quickly increasing oil supplies, substituting other fuels for oil, restraining oil demand, and allocating short supplies both nationally and internationally. GAO also analyzed the contingency programs provided by the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act since Congress might choose to renew or otherwise extend the authority of one or more of those programs. With the exception of the recent buildup of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the United States is no better prepared to deal with significant disruptions in oil imports than it was during the 1973 oil embargo. The Nation's almost total lack of emergency preparedness requires immediate attention. GAO found that the Nation is grossly unprepared to cope with a large shortfall because: (1) no plan has been prepared for emergency surge oil production; (2) there is no adequate plan for using SPR; (3) the Government has no plans for managing private oil stock drawdown; (4) both crude oil and petroleum product allocation programs are in disarray; (5) Federal and State plans for restraining oil demand are totally inadequate; (6) emergency oil reserves both here and in other industrialized countries are not adequate; and (7) the international oil sharing mechanism is too narrowly focused and may not work effectively. Government energy supply programs should be developed before any shortages occur so that government at all levels will not have to enact measures in the confusion and political pressures generated by a disruption of supplies. Programs are needed which: will yield significant benefits when applied, are fully developed and kept ready for use, can be implemented in a timely manner, can coordinate the actions of the public and private sectors, can be enforced, and are fully tested before use.

Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning

Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning PDF

Author: Kay C. Goss

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 1998-05

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 078814829X

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Meant to aid State & local emergency managers in their efforts to develop & maintain a viable all-hazard emergency operations plan. This guide clarifies the preparedness, response, & short-term recovery planning elements that warrant inclusion in emergency operations plans. It offers the best judgment & recommendations on how to deal with the entire planning process -- from forming a planning team to writing the plan. Specific topics of discussion include: preliminary considerations, the planning process, emergency operations plan format, basic plan content, functional annex content, hazard-unique planning, & linking Federal & State operations.

Voice of the Marketplace

Voice of the Marketplace PDF

Author: Joseph A. Pratt

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9781585441853

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The National Petroleum Council (NPC) emerged out of the close cooperation between the petroleum industry and the federal government during World War II. An industry-financed advisory committee designed to work closely with the Department of the Interior, it enjoyed a remarkable independence from political or financial pressures. Including representatives of all phases of the petroleum business, the NPC could reach deep within the industry for information on vital issues. In the last fifty-plus years, the Council has evolved into a voice of the marketplace, analyzing conditions in the petroleum industry at the request of the government and publishing its findings in reports widely considered authoritative and useful. Three uniquely qualified historians here chronicle the development and contributions of the NPC to both the energy industry and the American market. While technological advances, skyrocketing world demand, the rise of OPEC, and far-reaching regulatory initiatives have fundamentally transformed the petroleum industry's structure and operating environment, the National Petroleum Council has remained a reliable source of authoritative information. Joseph A. Pratt, William H. Becker, and William McClenahan, Jr., analyze the choices and strategies that have given the Council the adaptability and resilience to survive and remain important. The authors look also at the actual reports generated by the Council--more than two hundred studies to date--and the impact they have had on both government and business. They examine the NPC's ability to tap information and personnel from all sectors of the industry and to fund from industry resources studies that would have exceeded the pockets of the federal government. They consider the way the Council has managed to encompass the varied viewpoints within a diverse, highly competitive industry, and particularly to bridge the sharp historical division between the "majors" and the "independents." Finally, the authors analyze the one political concern that has remained constant for the industry: antitrust. This engagingly written book not only sheds light on the petroleum industry and its regulatory context, but also addresses the larger questions of the U.S. government's relations with the industries it regulates.