The U.S. awarded contracts for the purchase of 3.3 million barrels of oil to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after a massive sale from the stockpile in 2022, the Department of Energy said Friday.
The oil is being bought at an average price of $79.38 a gallon, the department said. The Biden administration sold 180 million barrels from the SPR oil in 2022 to control gasoline prices before the midterm elections.
The U.S. created the SPR after the Arab oil embargo in 1975 spiked gasoline prices and damaged the U.S. economy. Presidents have tapped the SPR, the world's largest oil reserve, to calm petroleum markets during times of war or when hurricanes hit energy infrastructure along the Gulf of Mexico.
The reserve has been as low as 351 million barrels during the Biden administration after being as high as 695 million barrels at the start of the Trump administration.
The Energy Department also said it is seeking to buy another 3 million barrels for delivery in November. The agency has so far bought back only 35.6 million barrels of the 180 million it sold in 2022.
The Biden administration said it wants to buy back the oil at about $79.99 a barrel. Buying back at that price could be difficult with the approach of peak U.S. summer driving season, a time that traditionally boosts oil demand.
West Texas Intermediate oil prices settled above $80 a barrel on Friday as economic indicators from the world's top two oil consumers, China and the U.S., raised hopes for higher demand.
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