Releases Are Part of President Biden’s Actions to Help Protect Americans from Putin’s Price Hike at the Pump, Contributing to Historic Drop in Gas Prices
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that contracts have been awarded for the purchase of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) following a Notice of Sale announced on July 26, 2022. The contract awards are part of President Biden’s announcement on March 31, 2022 to release one million barrels of crude oil a day for six months to address the significant global supply disruption caused by Putin’s war on Ukraine, act as a bridge for domestic production to increase, and help stabilize volatile energy costs for American families.
A total of sixteen (16) companies responded to the notice, submitting 129 bids for oil from the four SPR sites. The notice of sale was fully subscribed with awards for 20 million barrels. Contracts were awarded to the following companies:
| 1. Chevron USA | (0.350 million barrels) |
| 2. Equinor Marketing & Trading | (1.050 million barrels) |
| 3. Macquarie Commodities Trading US LLC | (0.350 million barrels) |
| 4. Marathon Petroleum Supply and Trading LLC | (5.600 million barrels) |
| 5. Mercuria | (0.500 million barrels) |
| 6. Motiva Enterprises LLC | (2.100 million barrels) |
| 7. Phillips 66 Company | (0.950 million barrels) |
| 8. Shell Trading (US) Company | (4.250 million barrels) |
| 9. Valero Marketing and Supply Company | (4.900 million barrels) |
Crude oil deliveries will take place from each of the SPR storage sites between September 16, 2022 and October 21, 2022.
The SPR is the world's largest supply of emergency crude oil, and the federally owned oil stocks are stored in underground salt caverns at four storage sites in Texas and Louisiana. The SPR has a long history of protecting the economy and American livelihoods during energy supply challenges.
For more information on the SPR, please visit Infographic: Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Fact Sheet: Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Sign up to receive future FECM news alerts here.