US seeks to buy up to 3 million bbls of oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday said it wants to buy up to 3 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for delivery in March 2024, as it takes advantage of lower prices to start to replenish the stockpile. The administration of President Joe Biden last year conducted the largest sale to date from the SPR of 180 million barrels to try to limit an oil price rally after Russia's war on Ukraine began in February 2022. The Energy Department in October said it would buy back oil for the reserve at $79 per barrel or lower, after it had received an average of about $95 a barrel from last year's emergency sales.