Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Thursday that the United States could begin purchasing oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as early as June, offering the administration’s most optimistic timeline to date as to how soon it might begin refilling the depleted stockpile.
Speaking at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Thursday, Granholm said DOE could begin purchasing oil to replenish the emergency stockpile in June after the completion of a 26 million-barrel congressionally mandated sale.
“And it’s at that point where we will flip the switch and then seek to purchase” oil to refill the stockpile, she said.
As recently as March, Granholm had sounded pessimistic notes about beginning to refill the stockpile this year.
Her remarks come as oil prices have declined steadily in recent weeks amid concerns over the U.S. economy and lower Chinese manufacturing demand, sending futures for U.S.-based West Texas Intermediate as low as $70.88 on Thursday.
The White House had pledged to begin refiling the SPR when U.S. oil futures benchmarks fell to around $67-$72 per barrel, but Granholm’s remarks suggest they will not begin doing so until summer at the earliest.
She did, however, note that the administration can carry out the sales as the stockpile undergoes maintenance as part of its Life Extension II modernization program.
“We have the authorities to be able to do [the sales] in addition to the maintenance that is happening, the Life Extension program,” she said.
Her remarks come after President Joe Biden ordered the sale of 180 million barrels from the stockpile last year to help drive down soaring retail gas prices caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The sales were the single largest drawdown in the history of the reserve, sending levels plummeting to a 40-year low. But the sales also prompted concerns about the structural integrity of the reserves, underground salt caverns that can be damaged by frequent and repeated withdrawals. Republicans criticized the administration as leaving the government with fewer resources in case of an emergency.
