In yet another bad move by the Biden administration, plans to buy up to 3 million barrels to replenish the (SPR) Strategic Petroleum Reserve have been abruptly canceled.
On March 14, DOE's Office of Petroleum Reserves announced the solicitation for three million barrels of oil to be delivered in August and September to its Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana, one of four major SPR storage facilities.
When DOE first announced the Bayou Choctaw refill plan last month, it said it would aim to purchase oil priced at $79 per barrel or below. Since then, oil prices have increased, with the U.S. benchmark hitting $85.71 earlier today.
Congress set up the SPR for emergency situations, but after it was refilled by former president Donald Trump, the Biden administration purposely lowered it in 2022 to bring down gas prices before the midterms. Sadly, it fooled a lot of people while also bringing the emergency supply to a near record low, down 43% from 2021.
Biden's DOE (Department Of Energy) said it still plans to refill the SPR at some point.
"Keeping the taxpayer’s interest at the forefront, we will not award for the Bayou Choctaw SPR site in August and September, and will continue to solicit available capacity as market conditions allow," a DOE spokesperson said. "As always, we monitor market dynamics to remain nimble and innovative in our successful replenishment approach to protect this critical national security asset."