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US strategic oil reserve refill is limited despite low prices

E&E News - Energywire · Bloomberg · last updated

The Biden administration may not be able to take full advantage of the recent drop in oil prices as it seeks to refill its depleted crude oil reserve, the Energy Department’s No. 2 official said Monday.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve stands at its lowest level since the 1980s, but physical constraints and maintenance at the network of underground caverns along the Gulf Coast have been limiting the amount the Energy Department can purchase to about 3 million barrels a month, Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk said.

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The United States achieved net energy independence in 2020, but that has not insulated the nation from the roiling of energy markets in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Europe has been a large consumer of Russian natural gas, and the effort to wean itself, with the help of the United States, has strained markets and endangered global efforts to address the climate crisis.

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