Letter to Navy Secretary on Fuel Storage in the Indo-Pacific as Chinese Military Threat Grows

Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, expressing concern about the lack of a clear plan for storing and distributing fuel for American forces operating across the Indo-Pacific. In 2022, DoD ordered the Red Hill fuel storage facility in Hawaii to be defueled due to leaks that contaminated the drinking water on the island of Oahu. Red Hill previously stored up to 250 million gallons of fuel that could support American forces in the Indo-Pacific. It remains unclear how the Navy will replace Red Hill’s capacity and redistribute fuel in the region, a growing risk as the Chinese military threat to Taiwan grows.

Chairman Gallagher writes, “Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower once stated, ‘You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics...' [W]hile the Pentagon has publicly stated that it ‘has taken actions to reposition fuel within the theater,’ it is unclear whether any such actions are adequate to support contingency operations and present long-term solutions for bulk fuel availability for force mobility and power projection in the region.”

Chairman Gallagher also called attention to the inadequate size of the fleet of tankers that transport fuel to our forces. While the U.S. Transportation Command identified in 2016 a requirement for 86 fuel tanker ships to support global operations, the Navy’s current fleet does not even meet half this requirement.

Chairman Gallagher posed pointed questions to the Navy Secretary, asking the Navy about plans to build new and safe underground fuel storage facilities for the Indo-Pacific and acquire more fuel tanker ships.

View Chairman Gallagher's letter to the Navy Secretary HERE