US strategic petroleum reserves not to be replenished in 2023

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
23 Mar 2023 20:39

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that it might take several years for the strategic oil resreves to be replenished.

An aerial view of a crude oil storage facility is seen on May 4, 2020 in Cushing, Oklahoma (AFP)

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday that the US will face difficulties in replenishing its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) this year and that doing so will take several years due to price levels which currently stand at $70 per barrel.

"It will take a few years," the Energy Secretary said during today's hearing in the House Energy Committee.

Granholm noted that the goal is now to purchase oil at under $72 per barrel after the SPR reserves were sold for around $94 per barrel.

When the Committee asked Granholm what was holding the Energy Department from replenishing the SPR as the price currently stands at $70, she answered that this was partly owed to the fact that the Department is required to effect another congressionally mandated sales this year, which is about 26 million barrels.

The other reason is two sites are currently down for maintenance.

She noted that this year will be difficult for the Energy Department "to take advantage of this low price but we will continue to look for that low price into the future because we intend to be able to save the taxpayer dollars."

Last year, the Biden Administration sold excessive amounts of oil from the SPR - a time at which oil prices were the highest they had been since 2013 as they averaged at nearly $95 per barrel.

However, the Biden administration has still not bought back any of the 266 million barrels of oil that have been sold from the SPR since Biden's inauguration.

This resulted in Biden getting his reputation severely tarnished as an oil speculator, and for him to claim that legitimacy back would require him to re-purchase the oil back.

As of now, all the Administration has done is further deplete strategic oil reserves which have been accumulated under several previous administrations.