The US Energy Secretary said it may allow the payment of royalties for the use of crude oil to supplement the strategic petroleum reserves.

When interviewed, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that his "innovative" plan to supplement the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve may allow energy companies to pay the government in oil, rather than cash, for the cost of drilling for oil on federal land. The Department of the Interior, which regulates oil and gas development on federal lands, has the legal authority to accept physical oil or gas as royalties in situations beneficial to the United States.