-- The US Department of Energy on Friday said it had awarded contracts for an emergency exchange of 8.5 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at the Bryan Mound site.
The move marks the second phase of the DOE's execution of the 172-million-barrel release authorized as part of a broader coordinated release of 400 million barrels by International Energy Agency member countries aimed at stabilizing global oil markets.
These awards follow DOE's recent Request for Proposal for this portion of the exchange, with deliveries beginning immediately, the DOE statement said, adding that it is aimed at addressing short-term supply disruptions.
Under these awards, the DOE will move forward with an exchange of 8.5 million barrels of crude oil, which will be returned with additional premium barrels by next year.
This action builds on the initial phase of the exchange, which awarded 45.2 million barrels from the Bayou Choctaw, Bryan Mound, and West Hackberry sites.
"Today's awards continue our work to move oil quickly to the market and help mitigate near-term supply disruptions," said Kyle Haustveit, Assistant Secretary of the DOE's Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office.
He added that through this exchange structure, the DOE aimed to deliver critical barrels immediately, while returning even more to the SPR over time.