(TheRedWire.com) – On Tuesday, the Energy Department announced that in order to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SRP) it would be buying 3 million barrels of oil. In the last year, the SRP had taken millions of barrels from its reserve to address the energy crisis.
The administration is now working to replenish the crude oil in one of its four major Gulf Coast sites in Big Hill, Texas.
In a statement, the Department of Energy announced that they were committed to replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a way that would allow taxpayers to get the best deal. Currently repurchasing crude oil is going to be cheaper than the average barrel price in 2022 which was $95. The department added that they would also be looking at purchasing more oil later in the year.
Since President Biden took office in 2021, the SRP has depleted close to 300 million barrels, in large part because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine which led to the price of oil per barrel increasing to more than $100. In an attempt to stabilize gas prices, last March the Biden administration announced that they would be releasing 1 million barrels a day for the next six months in order to help American consumers. In 2022 the Biden administration released a record of 180 million barrels.
In October 2022, the White House announced that they were planning on starting to replenish the reserve once the price per barrel dropped to around $67-$72 per barrel. The Republican House also passed a bill in January that would restrict any further releases until the federal government provided a plan for replenishing the reserve.
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