Energy Supply and Distribution Act of 2015

Energy Supply and Distribution Act of 2015

This bill declares that the production and distribution of energy in the United States requires access to infrastructure and markets.

The Department of Energy (DOE) must collaborate with federal agencies to improve the conceptual development of energy security, considering at a minimum: (1) development of flexible, transparent, and competitive energy markets, including natural gas and oil; and (2) diversification of energy fuels, sources, and routes, and the encouragement of indigenous sources of energy supply.

DOE must also coordinate interagency: (1) data collection for energy distribution on shared energy infrastructure, and (2) training to evaluate and implement cross-border energy projects.

It is the sense of Congress that growth in crude oil and dry natural gas production varies significantly across oil and natural gas supply regions, thereby: (1) forcing shifts in crude oil and natural gas flows between regions of the United States, and (2) requiring investment or realignment of midstream infrastructure including pipelines.

The Energy Information Administration must collaborate with officials in Canada and Mexico to reconcile data on energy trade flows, extend energy mapping capabilities, and develop common energy data terminology.

Congress declares that processed condensate is a petroleum product.

The DOE Office of Fossil Energy Assessment may assess the suitability of condensate separately from crude oil for use in strategic reserves, while certain agencies within the Department of the Interior must assess condensate separately from crude oil.

The bill authorizes: (1) the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to estimate condensate separately from crude oil as part of the resource assessments regarding domestic geological formations, (2) the Office of Natural Resources Revenue to collect condensate data separately from crude oil, and (3) the United States Geological Survey to include estimates of condensate separately from crude oil as part of the resource assessments regarding domestic geological formations.

Domestic crude oil or condensate (except crude oil stored in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) may be exported without a federal license to countries not subject to U.S. sanctions.