The US Department of Energy formalizes the purchase of 4.65 million barrels of oil with delivery before the end of the year to replenish the country's strategic reserve, the department stated in a written statement.
According to the document, “contracts were concluded to purchase 4.65 million barrels of US-produced crude oil for the strategic reserve”. Deliveries are scheduled from October 1 to December 31 this year by Exxon Mobil and Macquarie Commodities Trading US. The total price of oil will be 357.68 million USD.
On July 10, the US Department of Energy published a request to purchase 4.5 million barrels of oil to replenish the strategic reserve.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order in late March 2022 requiring the Department of Energy to sell 1 million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Reserve for 180 days to lower U.S. gasoline prices. The Ministry uses the proceeds from the sale of raw materials to purchase energy resources and replenish oil reserves.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created as an emergency act by Congress in 1975 after the global energy crisis. Currently, four salt reservoirs in Texas and Louisiana contain about 371 million barrels of oil. Total permitted storage capacity is set at 714 million barrels. The US oil reserve is the largest national oil reserve in the world.