As much as 6 million bbl of crude oil from three US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) sites in Texas and Louisiana will be offered in an upcoming March sale, the US Department of Energy announced on Feb. 27. The auctions are mandated to fund modernization of the reserve from fiscal 2017 through 2020 under Section 404 of the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act, it noted.
The amounts to be offered are as much as 3 million bbl from the Bryan Mound storage site in Texas, 1.5 million bbl from the Big Hill site in Texas, and 1.5 million bbl from the West Hackberry site in Louisiana, DOE’s Fossil Energy Office said.
Proceeds will be deposited in DOE’s Energy Security and Infrastructure Modernization Fund during fiscal 2019, which ends on Sept. 30.
In fiscal 2019, DOE said it is authorized to sell up to $300 million worth of crude from the reserve to carry out the SPR Life Extension Phase II project, an SPR modernization program component, under the 2019 Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act.
Bids must be received no later than Mar. 13 at 2 p.m. CST. DOE said it will award contracts to winning bidders no later than Mar. 15, with deliveries scheduled during April and May.
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