Oil reserves facing depletion U.S. reportedly to buy 60 million barrels of crude in fall

The Biden administration plans to seek to buy 60 million barrels of crude oil this fall, CNN reported, citing sources. This would be the first large-scale replenishment of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by the U.S. Energy Department since the 21st century.

After the news broke, international oil prices rose in response, with both U.S. oil and BOP rising nearly 3%, with U.S. oil up 2.73% and BOP up 2.91% as of press time.

U.S. Energy Department officials revealed that the department plans to announce a long-term procurement plan on Thursday (May 5) local time, with the first 60 million barrels of oil to be delivered in the next few years.

SPR is an important U.S. national security and economic tool used to cushion the impact of soaring energy prices on the United States. Typically, the U.S. president releases oil reserves from the SPR in times of war or following natural disasters.