Foreign news on May 11, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (Jennifer Granholm) told lawmakers on Thursday that after completing the release of reserves authorized by Congress in June, the Energy Department can start buying back oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Granholm told lawmakers at a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives: "The sale of 26 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves authorized by Congress will be completed in June, and at that time, we will immediately change operations and seek to buy oil. "
The Biden administration conducted the largest release in history last year, selling 180 million barrels of the strategic petroleum reserve, which, along with several other releases last year, brought the SPR down to about 372 million barrels, the lowest level since 1983 .
Granholm previously said the Energy Department could start buying back oil in the fourth quarter after performing maintenance on two of the four SPR reserve bases located off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana.
The U.S. government has said it will buy oil when oil prices are sustained at or below $67-72 a barrel. U.S. crude futures fell more than 2 percent on Thursday to settle at $70.87 a barrel.
Bob McNally, an energy policy analyst at Rapidan Energy, said Granholm's speech "reflects a deluge of messaging from the administration that may be aimed at placating Republicans who are angry about the massive reduction in the SPR."
It added that Granholm's speech may also try to mitigate the impact of another supply cut by OPEC including Saudi Arabia and Russia.
OPEC is a coalition of oil-producing countries formed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia.
OPEC unexpectedly announced production cuts of about 1.15 million barrels per day in April, which the United States said was unwise.
微信扫一扫打赏
