The United States will receive an additional 40 million barrels of crude oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) once the conflict with Iran ends, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an interview with Fox Business.
Companies that borrowed oil from the reserve in recent months will return the crude with premiums after the conflict concludes, Wright said on the program Varney & Company.
The Department of Energy is currently lending about 133 million barrels of oil from the SPR to companies that will repay the borrowed crude with premiums of up to 24%. The reserve’s oil is stored in underground caverns in Texas and Louisiana.
“For every barrel we take out, we will get 1.25 barrels back next year,” Wright said. “We are going to add 40 million barrels to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after this conflict ends, at no cost to taxpayers, with agreements already in place.”
Fuel prices have risen since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began in February. Wright said he is not concerned about the SPR’s current inventory levels, which are near historic lows.
“I’m not worried because we are not selling any barrels of oil; we are putting oil into the market in the short term when it is needed, and we are exchanging those barrels,” Wright said.
The department maintains that the loan program will help stabilize markets at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.
