Profiles in Leadership is a series of interviews with senior executives in the Office of Fossil Energy (FE).  In this edition we caught up with Bob Corbin, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Petroleum Reserve.

Describe your role in FE.

As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Petroleum Reserves, my portfolio includes responsibility for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, and the environmental remediation of the former Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 1 oil field in Elk Hills, CA. 

My responsibilities also include the management of staff here in headquarters, in our field office, and at four storage sites in Texas and Louisiana – a total of nearly 900 federal and contractor staff.

You came from the Office of Oil and Natural Gas to head up the Office of Petroleum Reserves. What did you want to accomplish when you came here?

There was a very real concern about safety in the organization when I came here.  We did a three-month assessment at headquarters and in the field, and from that my emphasis has been on ensuring a continual, day-to-day focus on safety throughout the entire organization – from top to bottom.   That means developing a culture of safety, and we’ve tried very hard to impart the fact that everyone has responsibility for safety. 

Beyond that, I’ve also focused on understanding the various priorities of the Administration, and accomplishing those goals in a timely way.  Establishing the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve – after Superstorm Sandy and before the 2014 hurricane season – is a good example of that.  

What have you learned in the process?

I served 22 years on active duty in the Coast Guard.  So I’ve had a number of different jobs in my 36-year career – both in the military and the civil service.  This position I’m in now is probably – from a comprehensive standpoint – the most challenging job I’ve ever had.  There are so many difference facets of this office and there are multiple diverse challenges on a daily basis.  So I learn something every day.

What’s an average day like for you?

The days are long, but always interesting.  There are meetings with HQ staff to discuss ongoing projects, discussions with my field leadership to stay abreast of our operational readiness, and providing support to the Assistant Secretary. Regardless of how busy the days are though, I always try to find time to walk around the office and see how folks are doing.

Focusing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for a moment, what’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for the SPR?

We’re in a period of change that presents several tremendous opportunities for the SPR.  It was created in 1975 in the aftermath of the 1973 oil embargo to provide a reserve of strategic crude oil in the event of a disruption in U.S. supplies.

Now, 40 years later, the global oil market has changed dramatically and today’s threats are in many ways different from those we faced in 1975.  So we’re undertaking a long-term strategic review to determine how the SPR should be positioned over the next 20 to 25 years to meet its primary mission. We’re looking at the entire gamut of the SPR’s operational readiness.  With this review, we’ll have a roadmap for the kind of modernization that will best position the SPR to continue to provide a critical strategic service to the nation.

Tell us something about yourself that’s not in your official bio.

During my first tour of duty in the Coast Guard, I was stationed on a cutter with the primary responsibility of intercepting the flow of narcotics into the country.  So for my first two years in the workforce, I was basically a cop on the seas performing narcotics interdiction.

Thanks Bob.