U.S. To Buy 4.65 Million Barrels for The SPR, But There’s A Problem

The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a contract to purchase 4.65 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the latest in a string of contracts aimed at refilling the SPR following a record release of 180 million barrels in 2022.  Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) will supply 3.9 million barrels of the contract with Macquarie Commodities Trading US LLC supplying the rest. The DOE has since repurchased a total of 43.25 million barrels at an average price of around $77 a barrel, considerably lower than its sale price…