US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was speaking in a House of Representatives congressional hearing Thursday.
Referring to the sales of oil from the strategic reserve and the need to replenish the holdias said:
- "This year, it will be difficult for us to take advantage of this low price"
- "But we will continue to look for that low price into the future because we intend to be able to save the taxpayer dollars."
Granholm cited sale and maintenance at two of the reserve's four sites as reasons that'll make it difficult to buy back oil this year.
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The background to this:
- circa 180mn barrels have been sold from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, average price around US$94
- Granholm said at the hearing the administration wants to buy oil back at under $72 a barrel
- The US Department of Energy said last month it was implementing a three-part strategy to refill the reserve in the long term
