The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Petroleum Reserves has announced a Notice of Sale of up to 10 million barrels of crude oil to be delivered from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in November 2022.
This Notice of Sale is part of president Biden’s statement on March 31, 2022, authorizing the sale of crude oil from the SPR as continued support to help address the significant market supply disruption caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine and aid in lowering energy costs for American families.
The president authorized the DOE to release up to 180 million barrels from the SPR to serve as a wartime bridge as domestic production, which is expected to reach a new record next year, ramps back up. This historic release of SPR crude has already provided approximately 155 million barrels of crude oil supply to the US economy—resulting in certainty of supply for American consumers. The latest Notice of Sale, made on September 20, will bring the total to 165 million barrels out of the 180 million barrels the president authorized in March.
DOE plans to release up to 10 million barrels of sweet crude oil with deliveries in November 2022 from the Big Hill and West Hackberry SPR storage sites. DOE must receive bids for this notice no later than 10:00 am central time on September 27, 2022. Contracts will be awarded to successful offerors no later than October 7, 2022.
The sale will be conducted with the following crude oil options from the following two SPR sites:
- Up to five million barrels from Big Hill
- Up to five million barrels from West Hackberry
The SPR is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil, and the federally owned oil stocks are stored in underground salt caverns at four storage sites in Texas and Louisiana. The SPR has a long history of protecting the economy and American livelihoods in times of emergency oil shortages.
A recent analysis from the department of the treasury estimates that SPR releases this year, along with coordinated releases from international partners, have reduced gasoline prices by up to about 40 cents per gallon compared to what they would have been absent these drawdowns. Since June 2022, retail gas prices have dropped for more than thirteen consecutive weeks.
For more information visit www.energy.gov
