WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is delaying the replenishment of the nation’s emergency oil reserve after deciding the offers it received were either too expensive or didn’t meet the required specifications, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Department of Energy rejected the several offers it got for a potential purchase in February, said the people, who asked not to be identified as details of the process haven’t been published.
The department outlined its intention in December to begin restocking the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, starting with a purchase of 3 million barrels next month. The plan follows the historic 180 million-barrel release of oil from the reserve ordered by President Joe Biden as he sought to tame the high gasoline prices in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
