2024-08-04 03:05:51
The US Department of Energy has completed the purchase of 4.65 million barrels of oil for delivery by the end of the year to replenish the country’s strategic reserve. This is stated in a written statement by the department, Day.Az reports with reference to TASS.
According to the document, “contracts were signed to purchase 4.65 million barrels of U.S. crude oil for the strategic reserve.” Deliveries are planned from October 1 to December 31 of this year by Exxon Mobil and Macquarie Commodities Trading US. The reserve’s website specifies that the total cost of the oil will be $357.68 million.
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 directing the Energy Department to sell 1 million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for 180 days to lower U.S. gasoline prices. The department will use the proceeds from the sale to buy energy and replenish the reserve.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created by Congress in 1975 as a contingency measure following the global energy crisis. Currently, four salt-bed storage facilities in Texas and Louisiana contain approximately 371 million barrels of oil. The total authorized storage capacity is set at 714 million barrels. The U.S. Petroleum Reserve is the largest government-owned reserve in the world.