US announces latest solicitation of 3 million crude barrels to further refill SPR

The United States Department of Energy announced a solicitation for approximately 3 million barrels of crude Feb. 26, the US government's latest effort to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The announcement is in line with "DOE's strategy of consistent solicitations aimed at purchasing oil when it can purchase at a good deal for taxpayers: a price of $79 dollars per barrel or below, far less than the average of about $95 per barrel DOE received for 2022 emergency SPR sales," it said in a release. In 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, DOE sold of 180 million barrels of oil from the SPR for a purchase price of $229.54 million, part of an effort to forestall spikes in energy prices.

The department has closed 12 purchases of crude oil in 2023 and early 2024. The latest, to be delivered in June, saw the government purchase 2.95 million barrels of sour crude from four companies for an average price of $77.81/b. The DOE's refill efforts already include a total of 23.08 million barrels purchased for an average price of $76.34/b.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, the SPR currently has 359.5 million barrels in storage. Its peak, in Dec. 2009, was 727 million barrels; for much of the past decade, the SPR contained more than 600 million barrels. Further refill purchases will depend on global oil markets, as the DOE attempts to maintain its policy of refilling for less than $79 per barrel.

The purchase is scheduled to be delivered in August to the Big Hill SPR facility in Texas.