The Biden administration is unveiling new proposed rules for replacing the roughly 260 million barrels of oil that it plans to sell from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to blunt high gasoline prices.
The administration does not expect to begin restocking the SPR, typically reserved for emergencies and national security purposes, for more than a year.
The Department of Energy wants to immediately begin making deals with oil companies to buy barrels at fixed prices but hold off on the purchases until after the next fiscal year, or Sept. 30, 2023.
Senior administration officials argued that this approach would “encourage greater near-term investment in supply but will not raise demand for barrels now or in the near future.