Source: Golden Ten Data
According to the report, the US Department of Energy recently purchased 2.8 million barrels of crude oil, with an average price of more than 81 US dollars per barrel, exceeding the upper limit of 79 US dollars set by the federal government.
As part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Replenishment Program, the US Department of Energy recently purchased crude oil at an average price of more than $81 per barrel, exceeding the $79 limit set by the federal government.
According to Argus's report, the US purchased 2.8 million barrels of crude oil to supplement SPR, with an average price of more than $81 per barrel. Despite the price increase, the Department of Energy declined to comment on the reason for the purchase of crude oil.
Back in 2022, in order to curb the unstoppable rise in retail fuel prices, the Biden administration ordered the release of a record 180 million barrels of crude oil from SPR. Critics at the time warned that the move would have limited impact on oil prices, but would reduce SPR inventories, thereby harming America's energy security.
The US Department of Energy promises that reserves will only be replenished in a timely manner when prices are favorable. Due to large-scale releases, SPR is currently close to its lowest level in 40 years.
Now, although oil prices have risen again and the US Department of Energy has promised to refill these oil storage depots, half of these huge oil storage depots are still empty. The latest announcement brought the total amount of oil stocks purchased by the US since last year to 32.3 million barrels.
The US Department of Energy has been slowly supplementing SPR, as news of planned purchases led to an increase in oil prices to some extent, which forced the department to update the price range it would buy, raising the maximum price from $72 per barrel last year to $79 per barrel, but still below its average price of $95 per barrel sold in 2022.
Crude oil prices have been rising recently, and WTI crude even broke through the $80 per barrel mark earlier this month.
According to Argus, as of March 22, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said that the US SPR reserves are 363 million barrels of crude oil, and by the end of this year, crude oil inventories in SPR will reach or exceed the level before the large-scale sell-off two years ago. However, this will not be the result of additional efforts, but rather due to the cancellation of approximately 140 million barrels of SPR sales authorized by Congress.