White House Begins Plan to Refill US Emergency Oil Reserves
Source: Bloomberg
The Biden administration is making good on a plan to replenish the nation’s emergency oil reserves, starting with a 3 million barrel purchase of crude. The purchase of barrels for February delivery follows a historic 180 million barrel release of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tame high gasoline prices amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other supply issues.
“This repurchase is an opportunity to secure a good deal for American taxpayers by repurchasing oil at a lower price than the $96 per barrel average price it was sold for, as well as to strengthen energy security,” the Department of Energy said in a notice Friday announcing the plan.
The announcement caps a year that saw President Joe Biden make unprecedented use of the SPR to help curb soaring domestic costs of fuel. The price of oil has come down in recent months and it’s now almost 40% off the highs seen in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion. Even so, the administration has repeatedly said it reserves the right to do more sales if needed.
US benchmark oil futures initially pared some losses on the news before eventually settling down 2.4% at $74.29 a barrel. The Biden administration previously laid out a plan to repurchase oil for the approximately 700 million barrel-strong reserve when the price of crude hit around $70 a barrel. The SPR — the world’s largest emergency supply — was created in 1975 in the wake of the Arab oil embargo.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-16/us-energy-department-to-buy-oil-to-replenish-emergency-reserve
= new reply since forum marked as read
which is the cheapest since early this year (where I think I paid $3.39 and then after that, paid $3.89 in spring, and the few other times after, it was over $4/gal).
