After draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for since he took office, Biden will purchase 3 million barrels of crude oil to refill the emergency supply.
- After a record sale last year during a spike in prices that pushed the level of the reserve to the lowest since 1983.
- The new purchase would be for sour crude oil delivered to the Big Hill SPR site in Texas sometime during the month of August.
Last year the Biden administration conducted the largest ever sale from the SPR of 180 million barrels in an attempt to lower gasoline prices.
- Despite his action, prices still remain about $1 more per gallon since pre-Covid levels.
The SPR was intended to maintain a reliable source of energy in the event of a catastrophe, not to give a floundering president political cover.