US announces contracts to fill the SPR

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Petroleum Reserves has announced contracts for the acquisition of up to 1 million bbls of crude oil to replenish its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

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The crude oil will be delivered to the SPR’s Bryan Mound site, with deliveries scheduled from 1 December this year, through 31 January 2026.

The DoE has announced two tenders for the purchase, one for 600,000 bbls from oil company Trafigura, and another for 300,000 bbls from Energy Transfer Crude Marketing.

The US government issued the solicitation in October – marking the first time the Trump administration has proposed purchasing crude for the SPR, since taking office in January.

The US SPR is one of the world’s largest emergency crude oil reserves. When the US purchases crude oil to fill its SPR, significant amounts of oil are removed from the market, which could potentially tighten supply and support oil prices.

The crude oil stocks are stored in underground salt caverns at four sites in Texas and Louisiana.

The SPR stands at around 410 million bbls as of 7 November, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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