Biden administration says it has replenished strategic oil reserve after Russia war drawdown

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

07/29/24 2:09 PM ET


The Biden administration says it has replenished the 180 million barrels of oil it withdrew from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to high prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Energy Department on Friday announced a 4.65 million barrel purchase, bringing the total purchased since the 2022 drawdown up to more than 40 million barrels.

In addition, the administration has worked with Congress to cancel 140 million barrels in planned sales — accounting for the rest of the 180 million. “This milestone is a proof point that when the Biden-Harris Administration makes and implements a plan, we deliver for the American people,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a written statement.

“As promised, we have secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war in Ukraine – and we accomplished this while getting a good deal for taxpayers and maintaining the readiness of the world’s largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” she added.

The department said that the 43.25 million barrels it purchased were procured at an average price of $77 per barrel, while the oil it sold in 2022 averaged $95 per barrel. The other 140 million barrels were essentially bought at $74 per barrel, a senior Energy Department official said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4798299-biden-admin-refills-strategic-petroleum-reserve/

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Link to U.S. Department of Energy PRESS RELEASE - Biden-Harris Administration Purchases More Than 4 Million Barrels for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – Bringing Total Purchased to 40 Million at a Good Deal for American Taxpayers

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Good. Maybe they can flood the price lower in November.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. Or at least prevent the Saudis from driving the price higher in an October Surprise. Nt

[BumRushDaShow]

4. One possible counter to that

is that many states will be switching to the cheaper "winter blend" of fuel, so the prices are normally on the way down by then.

[mitch96]

3. Smart..Sell high, buy low...nt

[former9thward]

12. The price is not low.

Near $5.00 in the Chicago area.

[ffr]

5. I didn't buy any gasoline this weekend, but I used some for gardening.

It's with a sigh of relief that I use less and less fossil fuels each year. Not entirely off, but significantly off. Nothing worse than feeling held hostage by adversarial nations who hold too much control over our country.

[not fooled]

6. Just one of Joe's significant achievements that got no traction in the press or with the public.

Chris Hayes covered this story.

Link to tweet

]

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/05/16/joe-biden-master-oil-trader]

latter is paywalled, but you can get the gist.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. And he muted the "drill baby drill" nonsense that the GOP has used for talking points for years

Now it's a matter of getting transitioned out of the oil business... and hopefully the "Inflation Reduction Act", which has much of the climate change prep framework in it, will continue to move forward, and not get stymied.

[Igel]

9. "the administration ... worked with Congress to cancel 140 million barrels in planned sales". n/t

[relayerbob]

7. So actually made a profit at that, also

Bringing prices down, while helping to trim the deficit. That's our President.

And Trump today was complaining that OPEC is trying to flood the market, hahaha. They're trying to undercut the US, is what they are doing, while the US and China are rapidly ramping up alternative energy, cutting overall worldwide demand.

[Make7]

10. SPR Inventory: Feb 25, 2022 ＝ 580 million barrels; July 19, 2024 ＝ 374 million barrels

So "replenished" now means 206 million fewer barrels of oil?

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCSSTUS1&f=W

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Here another EIA report as FYI

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mcsstus1&f=m

Per the OP article -

The Energy Department on Friday announced a 4.65 million barrel purchase, bringing the total purchased since the 2022 drawdown up to more than 40 million barrels.

In addition, the administration has worked with Congress to cancel 140 million barrels in planned sales — accounting for the rest of the 180 million.

Meaning that the ACTUAL "draw down" was only 40 million bbls, NOT 180 million bbls. So if you take the 140 million bbls and add it back to the 374 million bbls, you get closer.

I know they had been doing maintenance on a couple of the facilities the past year and that was hindering getting oil transferred back into them (and may be impacting the numbers in the inventory). So hopefully they can get the numbers updated.