The Blubber

Per Reuters

Congress mandated the Biden Administration to sell 26 million barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In June 2011, US President Barack Obama sold 30 million barrels of crude oil, per Energy.gov, but this was not the only time that a large sum of barrels were sold.

In 2022, the Biden administration sold a record 180 million barrels, but in 2023, the US Department of Energy decided to cancel the sale of its oil. Despite the original plan to cancel it, US Congress made another decision otherwise.

Initially, the US Department of Energy didn't want to sell the 26 million barrels but was mandated otherwise. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is now down to its lowest level since 1983.

The SRP level is now down to just 372 million barrels, with the DOE saying the oil delivery will be from April 1 to June 30. early this 2023, the department decided not to entertain the first batch of bids from oil companies.

The rejection was supposed to be for companies to sell up to 3 million barrels to the reserve as the administration wants to repurchase oil at $70 a barrel. This comes as US oil prices have risen to $80 a barrel.

This comes as the US has given an official announcement to its citizens, saying they should immediately depart from Russia. This comes as the US embassy in Moscow also said that caution needs to be exercised because of wrongful detention risks.

The embassy also announced how US citizens were arrested in Russia and denied fair and transparent treatment. This also comes as Russian oil exports fell by $4 billion in 2022 compared to 2023.

Russian oil exports were down to just $12.6 billion in 2022 as revenues fell by 40% year-over-year in January amid sanctions on the country. The country's economy is expected to grow by just 0.3% in 2023.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• The US has said that its citizens should depart Russia immediately
• Russia's oil export fell by $4 billion in 2022 compared to 2023

Resources:

Reuters