Message from Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg

The U.S. energy landscape has experienced a period of unique challenges due to the current COVID-19 environment. As we work with the Administration to navigate these challenges, the Office of Fossil Energy has a critical role in ensuring U.S. economic recovery and energy security.

For example, to help alleviate the pressure on U.S. oil producers, the Department of Energy opened up storage capacity in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. To date, approximately 23 million barrels of storage have been awarded. These reserves have once again proven to be a critical asset for American energy and national security.

Be sure to keep your eye on our website for further announcements. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy catching up on some of our monthly Fossil Energy highlights below.

How the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Helps Oil Refiners Weather the Storm

For a lot of the United States, summer marks much anticipated warm weather. But, for residents along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States, summer also means bracing for the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Spanning from June through November, hurricane season reaches its peak from mid-August to late October, with the greatest number of tropical storms and hurricanes generally occurring in September.

The impacts of these storms can have serious repercussions not only for the communities along the Coasts, but for residents throughout the United States—particularly when it comes to energy.

Read more.

NEW! Liquefied Natural Gas Infographic and Fact Sheet

The United States has an abundance of natural gas. It is clean burning and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than other fossil fuels. Natural gas is a vital energy source and is commonly used to heat homes and run highly-efficient electric power plants; manufacture chemicals
and fertilizers; and fuel trucks, locomotives, cruise ships, and cargo vessels.

In the United States, most natural gas is delivered in its gaseous form by pipeline. Natural gas can also be delivered overseas and to places not reachable by pipeline in a liquefied
form, called liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to the shale revolution, the United States is now the top producer of natural gas and one of the largest exporters of LNG.

Download the LNG infographic and LNG fact sheet to learn more.

Fossil Energy Collaboration in the U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership

Assistant Secretary Steven Winberg gave opening remarks and participated as a panelist in the U.S.-India Energy Collaboration webinar on June 12. He highlighted the strategic energy partnership that has strengthened significantly in the past several years between India and the United States.

"India’s tremendous growth makes India an important market for our U.S. energy exports and more broadly, an important partner," said Assistant Secretary Winberg. "We share India’s interest in increasing your domestic oil and gas production, and in building the critical infrastructure that will facilitate the development of those domestic resources and continued U.S. imports."

Read the prepared remarks for more information.