II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4249 

To require the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study on access to 

operational energy by the Armed Forces in the Indo-Pacific region. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2024 

Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study 

on access to operational energy by the Armed Forces 

in the Indo-Pacific region. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fuel Utilization for 

5 Enhanced Logistics Act’’ or the ‘‘FUEL Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STUDY, STRATEGY, AND REPORT ON OPERATIONAL 

7 RESILIENCE OF ENERGY SUPPLY FOR ARMED 

8 FORCES IN INDO-PACIFIC REGION. 

9 (a) STUDY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

2 shall conduct a study on the energy supply, logistics 

3 networks, and infrastructure that support access to 

4 operational energy (as defined in section 2924 of 

5 title 10, United States Code) by the Armed Forces 

6 in the Indo-Pacific region. 

7 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study required by para8 graph (1) shall assess— 

9 (A) current contingency plans and alter10 native logistics routes that ensure continued ac11 cess by the Armed Forces to uninterrupted en12 ergy supply chains under contested conditions; 

13 (B) the current operational energy infra14 structure in the Indo-Pacific region owned by 

15 commercial companies or host countries, and 

16 the ability of such infrastructure to endure at17 tacks, including kinetic and cyber attacks; 

18 (C) potential political and economic influ19 ences on the availability of operational energy 

20 in contested environments, taking into consider21 ation the growing market share of national oil 

22 companies; and 

23 (D) current and projected trends in global 

24 refining capacity and investments in petroleum 

25 infrastructure, and the implications of such 


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1 trends for United States national security, in2 cluding the potential implications in a future 

3 conflict. 

4 (b) STRATEGY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

6 a strategy, based on the findings of the study re7 quired by subsection (a), to secure access to oper8 ational energy for the Armed Forces in the Indo-Pa9 cific region. 

10 (2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy developed under 

11 paragraph (1) shall identify— 

12 (A) rapid-deployment energy solutions that 

13 enable the Armed Forces to conduct sustained 

14 operations in the absence of traditional fuel 

15 supplies; 

16 (B) any needed or anticipated investment 

17 in infrastructure and fuel capabilities owned by 

18 the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, to 

19 reduce dependency on foreign infrastructure 

20 and petroleum; 

21 (C) any enhancement needed to ensure the 

22 security of operational energy supply chains for 

23 such sustained operations through advanced 

24 monitoring, including cybersecurity measures 

25 and physical protections; 


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1 (D) any collaboration between United 

2 States energy companies and partner countries 

3 the Secretary has pursued to reduce reliance on 

4 energy sources owned by adversarial countries; 

5 and 

6 (E) allied and partner countries with which 

7 the Commander of the United States Indo-Pa8 cific Command should collaborate to address 

9 vulnerabilities in the energy supply and logistics 

10 networks of the Armed Forces in the Indo-Pa11 cific region. 

12 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

14 to the congressional defense committees a report that in15 cludes— 

16 (1) the findings of the study required by sub17 section (a)(1); 

18 (2) the strategy developed under subsection 

19 (b)(1); and 

20 (3) any recommendation for legislative or ad21 ministrative actions to support such strategy. 

Æ 


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