2023-03-23 18:45:51 ET
It could take years for the U.S. to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm indicated Thursday at a congressional panel.
Granholm told the hearing that the Biden administration wants to buy oil back at under $72/bbl, and front-month Nymex crude ( CL1:COM ) for May delivery closed Thursday -1.3% to $69.96/bbl, falling for the first time in four sessions.
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The Secretary said the administration wants to refill the SPR back to the level it would have been without last year's emergency sales within "a few years," but "this year it will be difficult for us to take advantage of this low price... we will continue to look for that low price into the future."
She pointed to an upcoming congressionally mandated sale of 26M barrels from the SPR and maintenance at two of the reserve's four storage sites, Bayou Choctaw in Louisiana and Bryan Mound in Texas.
The SPR currently holds 372M barrels, the lowest since 1983, after last year's historic sale of 180M barrels.
The uncertainty caused by the banking crisis has weighed on oil prices but Goldman Sachs' global head of commodities research Jeff Currie said he sees crude moving higher .
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U.S. oil reserve refill could take 'a few years,' energy secretary says