US DOE to sell 12 million barrels of crude oil from SPR

The United States Department of Energy (US DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has issued a notice of sale for crude oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

It will make this option available for any company registered in the Crude Oil Sales Offer Program.

The US DOE will draw the crude oil from three SPR sites around the country, two in Texas and one in Louisiana.

The amounts offered under sale are as much as six million barrels (MMbbl) from the Bryan Mound storage site, 3MMbbl from the Big Hill site and 3MMbbl from the West Hackberry site.

In a press statement, the US DOE said: “Section 404 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 authorises the US Secretary of Energy to draw down and sell up to $2bn of SPR crude oil for fiscal years (FY) 2017 through 2020 to carry out the SPR modernisation programme.

“In FY 2020, the secretary is authorised to sell up to $450 million worth of crude oil from the SPR to carry out the SPR Life Extension phase two project, in accordance with the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94).”

According to the US DOE, it will deposit funds from the sale into the Energy Security and Infrastructure Modernization Fund during this financial year.

Interested companies need to submit their bids on or before 10 March 2020. The US DOE will award contracts no later than 20 March, with deliveries scheduled during April and May.

Last month, the US DOE authorised the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from NextDecade’s Rio Grande facility to non-free trade agreement (non-FTA) countries.