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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Procurement activities at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7103571

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is responsible for purchasing and storing crude oil to mitigate the potential adverse impact of any future disruptions in crude oil imports. Boeing Petroleum Services, Inc. (BPS) operates the SPR under a US Department of Energy (DOE) management and operating contract. The audit objective was to determine whether BPS solicited, awarded, and administered subcontracts in accordance with applicable Federal, DOE, and BPS procurement regulations. Our audit disclosed that BPS had not fully complied with prescribed procurement regulations in that it had not:(l) obtained competitive quotations or distributed subcontract awards equitably among qualified suppliers; (2) prevented subcontract awards to vendors debarred from Federal contracts; (3) prepared or obtained required documentation; and (4) ensured the prompt close-out of subcontracts. This condition existed because supervisors did not ensure that buyers were complying with prescribed procurement procedures. Also, BPS had not made effective use of a computer-based information system to administer subcontracts. As a result of these conditions, BPS could not provide DOE with reasonable assurance that purchases were made economically, that the Government's interests were adequately protected, and that unnecessary costs were not incurred. Our report identifies various corrective actions for strengthening internal controls and improving the procurement function. SPRPMO's management generally concurred with the finding and associated recommendations. However, they deferred comment on the recommended elimination of a duplicate procurement information system until they had completed a study of the feasibility and cost of such an action.

Research Organization:
USDOE Office of Inspector General, Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Eastern Regional Audit Office
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI ID:
7103571
Report Number(s):
ER-BC-92-03; ON: TI92040943
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English