Monday 20 August 2018

US approves sale from strategic oil reserve as Iran sanctions loom | Financial Times

US approves sale from strategic oil reserve as Iran sanctions loom | Financial Times:

The US government has approved the latest sale of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a move allowed under recent statutes that will inject additional supplies into the world market as Washington tightens screws on Iran.

Eleven million barrels of sour crude will be offered for delivery between October 1 and November 30, the energy department said in a notice of sale posted Monday. The sale, if not its timing, was required under 2015 budget legislation and a healthcare law passed in 2016, according to the notice.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established in the 1970s after the US economy was paralysed by an oil embargo. As recently as 2011 it contained 727m barrels in caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. It was used to address fuel shortfalls caused by emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the collapse in Libya’s production in 2011.

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