Spotlight: The US Military’s March 2007 Fuel Contracts

B-52H: gas guzzler(click to view full) Fuel is a big issue to the US military. While there are some contracts issued throughout the year, the US military typically issues large sets of contracts over concentrated periods. In March 2006, for instance, DID covered over $3 billion in contracts issued within a week. A September 2005 flurry was over $1.5 billion worth, while 2 articles’ [1 | 2] worth of contracts in March 2005 amounted to over $2.5 billion. The Defense Energy Support Center estimates that the US military paid more than $10 billion for over 130 million barrels of fuel in 2006, compared to $6.7 billion for 144.8 million barrels in 2004. No wonder energy conservation is on the Pentagon’s agenda, field commanders are asking for portable renewable power, DARPA is researching alternative fuels for B-52 bombers, et. al. It would appear to be that time of year again. Here are all of the fuel contracts for March 2007, along with descriptions of key fuel types and explanations of the contract language. The final tally was $4,199,518,242 – plus any economic price adjustments later, a term we explain below… Key Fuel Types Headed for Iraq Unfortunately, the March 2007 contracts […]