February 13, 2023 PR from the DOE:
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Petroleum Reserves announced a Notice of Sale to meet its obligation to Congress to sell 26 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in Fiscal Year 2023. This sale will fulfill the congressional mandate set forth in section 403 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 and section 32204 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. The deliveries will take place from April 1 through June 30.
In accordance with the laws, DOE will release up to 26 million barrels of sweet crude oil from two SPR storage sites, with deliveries beginning as early as April 1, 2023. DOE must receive bids for this notice no later than 10:00 a.m. Central Time on February 28, 2023. Contracts will be awarded to successful offerors no later than March 8, 2023.
We see these sales have started at the beginning of the month:
From 03/31 to 04/14, there has been 3.212 million barrels sold, or about 230,000 barrels per day.
If this pace continues, the 26 million barrels will be sold by the end of July.