US seeks up to 3 million barrels of oil for emergency reserve
Move marks latest effort to increase oil reserve after 2022 sale
Unclear how much money is left to buy more oil
Future SPR replenishment depends on Congress amid political challenges
Adds background, comment from analyst, and Energy Department
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) -The U.S. on Monday said it is seeking upto 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 money to buy more until lawmakers approve more funds.
The solicitation for the oil which would be delivered to the SPR's Bryan Mound, Texas site from April through May 2025, is the latest step in bringing oil back to the reserve after its biggest sale ever in 2022 of 180 million barrels.
President Joe Biden had ordered that sale after gasoline prices spiked following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Department of Energy has now bought back more than 55 million barrels at an average price of about $76 per barrel, nearly $20 lower than the $95 a barrel price it sold the oil for in 2022.
As part of efforts to replenish the SPR, the department also worked with lawmakers in late 2022 to cancel 140 million barrels in sales that had been congressionally mandated through 2027. Democratic and Republican lawmakers had voted for those sales to pay for government programs.
It is unclear exactly how much money the DOE has left in its fund to buy more oil. A department source said earlier in the month that there was about $150 million left, or about enough to buy about 2 million barrels.
But evidently there is slightly more. "The DOE will continue to purchase crude at a good price for taxpayers with available emergency revenues," a department spokesperson said on Monday.
The Biden administration, or the next one, will need to work with Congress to fill up the DOE's SPR purchasing fund.
"Imminent depletion of the SPR petroleum account puts the onus on Capitol Hill for further replenishment, but politicization of the SPR could make it hard for lawmakers to agree," said Kevin Book, a policy analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, a non-partisan research group. Book estimated that "theoretically" there would still be some money left if the latest solicitation was fulfilled but that it would not be much.
Working with lawmakers on the SPR could also involve cancelling future sales that Congress mandated years ago of about 100 million barrels of oil from 2026 through 2031.
Cancelling the sales instead of buying oil only to resell it again could reduce wear and tear on the SPR's underground caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts, where the oil is held.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Andrea Ricci
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
