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United States seeks up to 3 million barrels of oil for emergency reserve

The U.S. on Monday said it is seeking approximately 3 million barrels of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for delivery through May next year, a purchase that would leave the government with little cash to buy more till legislators authorize more funds.

The solicitation for the oil which would be provided to the SPR's Bryan Mound, Texas website from April through May 2025, is the most recent step in bringing oil back to the reserve after its most significant sale ever in 2022 of 180 million barrels.

President Joe Biden had ordered that sale after gasoline costs spiked following Russia's full-blown invasion of Ukraine.

The Department of Energy has now redeemed more than 55 million barrels at an average price of about $76 per barrel, almost $20 lower than the $95 a barrel price it offered the oil for in 2022.

As part of efforts to renew the SPR, the department also worked with legislators in late 2022 to cancel 140 million barrels in sales that had been congressionally mandated through 2027. Democratic and Republican lawmakers had actually voted for those sales to pay for government programs.

It is uncertain exactly how much money the DOE has actually left in its fund to purchase more oil. A department source stated earlier in the month that there had to do with $150 million left, or about enough to purchase about 2 million barrels.

But obviously there is slightly more. The DOE will continue to acquire crude at a good rate for taxpayers with available emergency earnings, a department representative said on Monday.

The Biden administration, or the next one, will require to deal with Congress to fill up the DOE's SPR acquiring fund.

Imminent depletion of the SPR petroleum account puts the onus on Capitol Hill for further replenishment, but politicization of the SPR might make it hard for legislators to agree, said Kevin Book, a policy analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, a non-partisan research group. Schedule approximated that theoretically there would still be some cash left if the most current solicitation was satisfied however that it would not be much.

Dealing with lawmakers on the SPR might also include cancelling future sales that Congress mandated years ago of about 100 million barrels of oil from 2026 through 2031.

Cancelling the sales rather of buying oil only to resell it once again might reduce wear and tear on the SPR's. underground caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts, where the. oil is held.

(source: Reuters)