An Energy Department official later said the White House was not currently considering further releases of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) beyond the announced 180 million barrels. by the president several months ago.
This year, the Biden administration released about 1 million barrels of oil a day from SPR stockpiles to lower fuel prices and rein in energy inflation ahead of the midterm elections in November.
Deliveries made so far this year have helped lower the average US retail gasoline price from $5 per gallon in June to $3.75 per gallon this week. But they also reduced US emergency stocks to less than 450 million barrels, the lowest level since 1984.
OPEC and its allies, led by Russia, agreed on Monday to a small cut in oil production from next month to support prices that have slipped on fears of an economic slowdown.
It is “a bit early to say there will be more SPR releases”, said Abhiram Rajendran, head of global oil at Energy Intelligence. “But if OPEC starts being aggressive on supply cuts, that’s a possibility.”
The nation’s overall crude stocks have been declining since mid-2020 due to sales stemming from congressional mandates and Biden’s price initiative.
Without the SPR releases, US crude oil trading inventories “would be much lower than they are and are already below average,” said Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn.
Ms. Granholm also said during a visit to Houston on Thursday that the administration and its allies are still discussing a price cap on Russian oil purchases. A price cap would limit the revenue available to Russia from its invasion of Ukraine.
The administration has not ruled out a ban on US fuel exports, but said it was “definitely not something high on the list,” she said.
Ms. Granholm recently wrote to US refiners asking them to replenish low fuel stocks ahead of winter and curb rising gasoline and diesel exports. The letter warned that the administration could take unspecified emergency measures if fuel stocks were to drop further.