WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that it has issued the second of several solicitations planned to purchase up to four million barrels of crude oil for the United States’ crude oil reserve.  The first solicitation, issued March 16, 2007, resulted in no awards because the Office of Fossil Energy determined that the bids were too high and not a reasonable value for taxpayers.

This series of solicitations for the purchase of crude oil are planned to replace the 11 million barrels of oil sold after Hurricane Katrina.  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve will use the proceeds from the emergency sale for the direct purchases.

The solicitation requests offers for up to four million barrels in the following quantities:  two million barrels of sweet crude to be delivered to the West Hackberry, Louisiana site, and/or two million barrels of sour crude to the delivered to the Bryan Mound, Texas site.  Bids are due by May 1, 2007, and an announcement on contract awards will be made within one week.  The delivery period for the crude oil is June 1-30, 2007.

Through the terms of contracts to be issued from the planned series of solicitations, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve seeks to achieve a moderate fill rate of approximately 100,000 barrels per day beginning in June.  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has a capacity of 727 million barrels and currently holds 689 million barrels in inventory.

Contract awards made as a result of this solicitation will be the first direct purchase of crude oil for the Reserve since 1994.

Media contact(s):
Aimee Whitelaw, (202) 586-4940