Karen Frantz
GHG Monitor
1/17/14
This week the Government Accountability Office rejected a challenge over the new management contract for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was awarded to a team led by Fluor Federal Petroleum Operations in September. The bid protest was launched soon after the award’s announcement by DM Petroleum Operations Company, the incumbent contractor and one of four unsuccessful bidders for the new contract, worth approximately $1.46 billion over 10 years. DM Petroleum Operations Company is made up of Jacobs and International Matex Tank and Terminal. The DOE suspended transition activities and extended DM Petroleum Operations Company’s contract when it received notice of the protest, according to a Department spokesperson.
A team led by AECOM, another unsuccessful bidder for the contract, also filed a challenge to the award on Oct. 17, and a decision on that protest may come by the end of the month. Other unsuccessful bidders for the contract included URS-Parsons Brinkerhoff and CB&I-Loop. The SPR consists of four sites—two located in Louisiana and two in Texas—and currently holds approximately 696 million barrels of oil, according to DOE.
