US Senate budget plan cuts spending for Strategic Petroleum Reserve replenishing

The budget bill passed by the US Senate on Tuesday includes a cut in funds to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) despite Donald Trump's previous statements about his intention to restore its volumes.

The budget bill reduced the amount of funds allocated for the purchase of crude oil to replenish the SPR from the previously set $1.3 billion to $171 million. That's enough to purchase just 3 million barrels at today's prices.

Earlier, under the administration of former President Joe Biden, a significant amount of crude oil from the SPR reserves was sold in an effort to curb skyrocketing fuel prices. As a result, the volume of crude oil in the reserve dropped to its lowest level in 40 years.

According to specialists of Rapidan Energy, the reduction of funding for oil purchases was driven by the US authorities' attempts to find options to reduce budget expenditures. Now the bill has been sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. The deadline for voting is unknown.