U.S. stopped selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) weekly report, the U.S. has stopped selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Back in late 2022, the U.S. President’s administration announced that the sale of oil from the SPR would be completed. An intention to replenish stocks of the energy source was also stated.

As of January 13, the SPR crude balance remained the same as a week earlier. It was 371.6 million barrels.

The current balance, barely above 370 million barrels, is at its lowest since the end of 1983. As recently as November 2021, the country's reserves were about 600 million barrels. However, the SPR reduced significantly, as oil began to be drawn from the reserves.

It is worth noting that the sale of SPR oil along with other important events in the global market caused a rise in international supplies for the previous year. Due to that, oil prices decreased from their highs of $130 per barrel and more, which were recorded at the beginning of last spring.

At present, negotiations on oil purchase to replenish the SPR have begun. The purchase price of $70 per barrel was offered to a number of U.S. energy companies. However, this price is lower than the market one. Currently, oil in the U.S. is traded around $81 per barrel. Therefore, a search for suppliers might be difficult. It is unlikely that the reserves will be replenished in the near term.