The Biden administration abruptly halted refilling the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as the Department of Energy tries to keep “the taxpayer’s interest at the forefront.” The latest decision comes as crude oil prices have rocketed amid geopolitical tensions and global market tightness.
Last month, the Energy Department’s Office of Petroleum Reserves announced the solicitation for approximately three million barrels of crude oil for August and September delivery to its Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana. This is one of the government’s four significant SPR storage sites.
However, the U.S. government suddenly reversed the decision and “will not award the current solicitations for the Bayou Choctaw SPR site and will solicit available capacity as market conditions allow. We will continue to monitor market dynamics.”…