SPR he U.S. Department of Energy has sped up the return of 4 million barrels of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, from a previous exchange of crude to energy companies, as it seeks to replenish the stockpile after a record drawdown last year, it said on Friday.
Oil companies will now return the 4 million barrels to the reserve by February instead of this summer, it said. The Energy Department said it aims to buy up to an additional 3 million barrels of oil by February for the reserve.
The administration of President Joe Biden last year conducted the largest sale ever from the SPR of 180 million barrels in an effort to fight rising oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.