The United States has bought nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the largest-ever release from the emergency reserve in 2022.
The US Department of Energy said in a statement that about 800,000 barrels per month of relatively high-sulfur crude oil will be delivered to the reserve site in Bryan Mound, Texas, from January to March next year. It added that the contract to purchase oil worth more than $180.3 million was awarded to Macquarie Commodities Trading.
The Energy Department announced on August 12 that it intends to buy up to 6 million barrels at a rate of 2 million barrels per month from January to March.
The Biden administration is slowly replenishing the reserve after selling 180 million barrels from the facility in 2022 to control gasoline prices after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Energy Department said the administration has so far repurchased more than 47 million barrels, at an average price of $76.89 a barrel, about $18 below the average price of $95 a barrel at which it sold oil in 2022.
