WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th September, 2022) The Biden administration is evaluating the need for additional drawdowns of emergency crude oil stored under the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) when a current sale program from the stockpile ends in October, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Additional releases from the SPR could be made in November, December or January but no decision has been reached, according to more people within the administration, Bloomberg reported without naming the officials. The potential size of any additional SPR drawdown also is not known as yet, the report added.
The reports came as the US Energy Information Administration reported in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report on� Wednesday that SPR inventories had hit November 1984 lows after the latest outflow of 7.5 million barrels from the stockpile during the week ended August 31.
The Biden administration has been drawing down the SPR since November last year to make up the shortfall in crude supply on the domestic market for fuels.
But outflows from the reserve accelerated in May when the administration�embarked on a battle to bring down the spiraling pump price of gasoline that had bumped US inflation to 40-year highs. The president committed to draw down 180 million barrels from the reserve over a six month period � or roughly one million barrels per day � between May and October.
At latest count, the SPR had released a total of 173.8 million barrels since March, a figure that includes volumes associated with an earlier round of tenders, Bloomberg reported.
Gasoline reached a record high of $5.01 a gallon on the average at US pumps in mid-June before tumbling steadily on the back of the SPR releases. On�Thursday, it averaged at around $3.75 per gallon, according to the American automobile Association. Some analysts say the price could be below $3 by October.
