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DOE to Resume Filling Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Oil Acquisition Slated for 2009
WASHINGTON , DC -- The U.S. Department of Energy today announced that it plans to take advantage of the recent large decline in crude oil prices, and has issued a solicitation to purchase approximately 12 million barrels of crude oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to replenish SPR supplies sold following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
In addition, DOE is also moving forward with three other SPR acquisition and/or fill activities in order to fill the SPR as Congress directed in the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPAct): refiner repayments of SPR emergency oil releases following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike; the delivery of deferred royalty-in-kind (RIK) oil; and the solicitation of new RIK deliveries in the spring of 2009.
From May 2008 through the end of December 2008, DOE was prohibited by law from acquiring petroleum for the SPR. Now that the statutory moratorium on SPR oil acquisitions has expired, and in light of substantially lower crude oil market prices, DOE believes it is economically prudent and in the Nation’s national security interest to move forward with filling the SPR.
Acquisitions in 2009 will fill the SPR to its current storage capacity of 727 million barrels and provide the U.S. with approximately 70 days of net import protection.
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