US Energy Secretary: Refilling SPR may take years

Jennifer Granholm, US Secretary of Energy, said in Congress on Thursday that it could take years to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after stocks reached the lowest level since 1983 as a result of sales authorized by President Joe Biden last year.

According to “Reuters”, Granholm told state representatives at a congressional hearing, “This year it will be difficult for us to benefit from this low price … but we will continue to search for it in the future because we intend to be able to save taxpayer dollars.”

Biden administration officials have said they want to refill the reserves, after selling about 180 million barrels last year in a record draw, when the oil price stabilizes at around $70 a barrel. The sale of oil from reserves is about $94 a barrel

The price of futures contracts for benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell to about $ 70 a barrel this week due to concerns about the economy, which is in the midst of crises in a number of banks. Granholm said at the meeting that the administration wants to buy back oil at less than $72 a barrel

The Energy Department said last month it was implementing a three-part strategy for long-term refilling of reserves that includes buying back about $4.5 billion in revenue from past sales, the proceeds of more than 25 million barrels of oil from past exchanges and working with Congress to avoid “sales of oil.” Unnecessary, unrelated to supply disruptions

Last year, the ministry succeeded in persuading Congress to cancel sales it had previously authorized, amounting to 140 million barrels, which are scheduled to be implemented from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2027.

But the Energy Department is moving ahead with the sale of 26 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves that Congress authorized in previous years to help fund the federal budget. The oil will be delivered from April 1 to June 20

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently contains about 372 million barrels, the lowest level since 1983.