The The Department of Energy (DOE), under the Biden administration, has on Wednesday said that it has awarded contracts to buy 2.8 million barrels of oil for the government’s emergency reserve for more than $81 a barrel, $2 above the target purchase price. Based on the department’s anouncement, the price is about $81.32 a barrel.
The department added that it will spend $225.6 million to buy oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) from Atlantic Trading & Marketing, Macquarie Commodities, and Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals. The oil is set to be delivered in September.
Previously, the energy department has said that it will purchase oil at a price of $79 per barrel or below, less than the average of about $95 it received for 2022 emergency SPR sales.
A spokesperson for Department of Energy said the average purchase price for Wednesday’s and earlier purchases together remained below $79.
The DOE has already purchased 26.28 million barrels of oil for the SPR for an average price of $76.47, as well as accelerated nearly 4 million barrels of exchange returns.
