The SPR is ripe for legal plunder. : Congress has passed five pieces of legislation committing the Energy Department to sell off a substantial amount of strategic oil reserves over the next decade to finance more government spending. If all the legislated sales are held, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) could shrink 40 percent by 2027’s end (from 695 million to 410 million barrels), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Three bills passed in 2015 and 2016 entail energy officials to sell off 149 million barrels through 2025.