Granholm Cautious Of Replenishing Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Wires carrying comments from US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm stating she, "doesn't want to do anything with replenishing strategic petroleum reserve that would affect oil prices."

• Granholm also says the, "months-long LNG pause does not impact any projects in long term and will not impact any relationships with allies," adding that, "existing LNG export authorizations will stand."
• Replenishing the SPR, which is now sitting at roughly half the supply stored during 2010-11, has become increasingly politicized with pressure on the administration to buy domestic supplies. However, Bloomberg notes that the domestic supplies availiable are often incompatible with existing stocks.
• Oil analyst Julian Lee writes: "The SPR needs to hold the types of crude that refiners are most likely to need in the event of a stoppage, not the ones that meet a domestic political agenda."
• Lee comments hint at a political wedge issue that is likely to reoccur on the 2024 campaign trail - that the White House tapped the SPR ahead of the midterm elections in 2022 for political rather than national security reasons, a regular argument for conservatives who argue that SPR has been used "as a political tool."
• On LNG, earlier this month, nine House Democrats joined with Republicans to pass legislation which would effectively quash the LNG measure by sidelining the DOE in the approval process. However it is unlikely the legislation will have sufficient support to clear the Senate despite support from several moderate Democrats including Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA).