Energy Department increases pace of petroleum stockpile refill as oil prices dip

Following a dip in oil prices, the Energy Department announced it will purchase 6 million barrels of oil for the nation’s energy stockpile. 

Reuters reports the latest U.S. jobs data and lower expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates anytime soon sent U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures Friday down 2 cents to $75.53. 

The DOE is aiming to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at $79 per barrel or less, which the department says is less than the $95 per barrel it received when it sold the oil in 2022, when President Joe Biden sought to push down gasoline prices ahead of the midterm elections. 

The SPR held nearly 640 million barrels of oil in January 2021, but fell to less than 350 million barrels last summer. The DOE has so far purchased 38.6 million barrels in an effort to refill it.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has given conflicting answers as to when the stockpile would be back up to 2021 levels. In March, she said it would be refilled by the end of the year, but the following month it canceled some planned buys due to high oil prices.