The Energy Department is testing its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in light of the impact the shale boom has had on U.S. petroleum infrastructure. The situation in Ukraine is not mentioned in the DoE's statement.
The test will include the "drawdown and sale of up to 5 million barrels of sour crude oil," said DoE spokesman Bill Gibbons.
Drawdowns on the SPR are pretty irregular. Here's a list from the DoE:
- 2011 IEA Coordinated Release (Libya) - 30,640,000 barrels
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina Sale - 11 million barrels
- 1996-97 total non-emergency sales - 28 million barrels
- 1990/91 Desert Storm Sale - 21 million barrels (4 million in August 1990 test sale; 17 million in January 1991 Presidentially-ordered drawdown)
- 1985 - Test Sale - 1.0 million barrels
Oil is off more than 1.5% today.
Earlier today, the EIA said weekly inventories were up 6.2 million barrels, far greater than the 2 million seen in a Tuesday survey conducted by Platts.
Oil has already had a rough week, down 3.5% on expectations of rising U.S. supplies amid reduced demand as refineries undergo seasonal maintenance. It closed at its lowest level in a month yesterday.
Chart:
Investing.com
And here's the full release from the Energy Department about the SPR test:
"By law, the Department of Energy is required to conduct continual evaluation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve system's drawdown and sales procedures. Due to the recent dramatic increase in domestic crude oil production, significant changes in the system have occurred - including pipeline expansion, construction of new infrastructure, reversed flow of existing pipelines and increased use of domestic crude oil terminals. In order to appropriately assess the system's capabilities in the event of a disruption, today the Department of Energy authorized a test drawdown and sale of up to 5 million barrels of sour crude oil." - DOE spokesman, Bill Gibbons
BACKGROUND:
- Notice of Test Sale can be found here: http://www.spr.doe.gov/doeec/TestSale14/Notice_of_Sale.pdf
- The sale will help the Department assess the SPR TEXOMA distribution system, which includes the SPR sites at Big Hill, Texas and West Hackberry, Louisiana. A test sale will help evaluate how recent infrastructure and transportation changes may impact the ability to distribute SPR crude oil within this distribution system.
- 5 million barrels of SPR crude oil will be offered for sale. Of this, 4 million barrels of sour crude would be offered from the SPR West Hackberry site and 1 million barrels of sour crude would be offered from the SPR Big Hill site.
- During the sale, crude oil may not be sold at a price less than 95% of market prices for comparable crude being sold in the same area. The price index for price comparison purposes is domestic sour crude sold in the same market center as the sale (Southern Green Canyon crude oil).
- The release of up to 5 million additional barrels of sour crude into the marketplace through the proposed test sale is expected to have minimal market impact.
- The Department has been discussing this internally for many months, and the Notice of Sale is being issued today so refineries interested in purchasing crude oil from the SPR can plan accordingly for when their facilities come out of their annual maintenance cycle at Gulf Coast refineries when crude oil stocks are being replenished in preparation for switchover to summer grade gasoline.
- The Department announced the sale today by issuing a Notice of Sale to those companies who have registered on the SPR Sales Notification List. Contracts will be awarded through a competitive sales process in mid-March for crude oil deliveries in April. Invoices would be issued shortly after deliveries are accepted and receipts for payment would be due no later than 30 days after invoicing.
- Past Sales
- 2011 IEA Coordinated Release (Libya) - 30,640,000 barrels
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina Sale - 11 million barrels
- 1996-97 total non-emergency sales - 28 million barrels
- 1990/91 Desert Storm Sale - 21 million barrels (4 million in August 1990 test sale; 17 million in January 1991 Presidentially-ordered drawdown)
- 1985 - Test Sale - 1.0 million barrels