US Plans To Buy 12mn Barrels Of Oil For SPR This Year

The US plans to purchase around 12mn barrels of oil this year as it plans to refill its strategic petroleum reserves amid falling crude prices, according to two people familiar with the matter.

• The figure includes 3mn barrels already scheduled for delivery in August and an additional 3mn barrels for September delivery from a solicitation the Biden administration issued on Friday, according to the people.
• An Energy Department spokesperson said they will continue to “seek opportunities for additional repurchases as market conditions and the constraints of SPR operations allow.”
• The administration is slowly buying back oil from the SPR after selling more than 200 million barrels last year including a record 180mn barrel sale to fight high oil prices.
• “The DOE seems to be looking to replenish the Reserve in a series of small nibbles rather than big bites, perhaps to minimize upside pressure on crude in the summer driving season (and the Presidential election season),” Washington-based consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners said.
• The Biden administration last fall said the aim was to refill the reserve when prices were at or below about $67-$72/bbl.
• WTI JUL 23 at 69.43$/bbl