The US Buys 2.5 Million Barrels of Oil to Replenish Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The United States has recently made a significant purchase of nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil to replenish its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This decision comes after the largest sale ever from the reserve facility in 2022, as announced by the Energy Department on Friday.

The contract for this purchase, valued at over $180.3 million, was awarded to Macquarie Commodities Trading US LLC. The plan is to deliver about 800,000 barrels per month of domestically produced sour oil, which is relatively high in sulfur, to the reserve’s Bryan Mound site in Texas from January to March next year.

Initially, the Energy Department had intended to acquire up to 6 million barrels, with a rate of 2 million per month from January to March. Although it is unclear if the remaining 3.5 million barrels will be purchased for the Bryan Mound site in that specified timeframe.

Since the sale of 180 million barrels from the facility in 2022 to stabilize gasoline prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration has been gradually replenishing the reserve. As of now, more than 47 million barrels have been repurchased at an average price of $76.89 per barrel, which is $18 lower than the average price of $95 per barrel at which the oil was sold in 2022.