U.S. Adds 2.3 Million Bbl to Strategic Petroleum Reserve in April — OPIS

The U.S. added 2.3 million bbl of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the first four weeks of April, marking a sixth straight month where inventories in the stockpile have increased, according to Department of Energy data released Monday.

All of the April additions came as the Biden administration continued its program of oil purchases for the SPR, according to DOE.

As of Friday, there were 366.3 million bbl in the SPR, including 143.8 million bbl of sweet crude and 222.5 million bbl of sour.

As in other recent months, all of the SPR additions in April were of sour crude.

With the latest additions, DOE has added about 35 million bbl of oil for the SPR in recent months.

Despite the additions, levels in the reserve remain at the levels equal to those seen in October 1983.

SPR holdings fell to a low of 346.75 million bbl in July as the Biden administration conducted a series of oil releases to combat rising energy prices and to make up for declines in Russian crude exports because of international sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

DOE has said it has awarded contracts for delivery of 2.95 million bbl in June and for 2.8 million bbl for September delivery.

While DOE last month requested proposals for additional crude purchases, reports indicate those plans have been put on hold amid a recent increase in oil prices.

DOE initially said it would purchase crude when the price of oil met or was below its $79/bbl price target.

The price of U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was nearly $84/bbl Friday and has climbed as high as $86.10/bbl earlier in April. DOE representatives did not respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

--Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2024 16:06 ET (20:06 GMT)

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