First on CNN: Biden administration launches plan to refill emergency oil reserve
CNN
The Biden administration plans to seek bids this fall to buy 60 million barrels of crude oil as the first step in a years-long process aimed at replenishing America's emergency oil reserve, an Energy Department official told CNN.
This would mark the first time since the early 2000s that the Energy Department has acquired large quantities of oil for the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the largest emergency supply of oil on the planet.
The Energy Department plans to announce the launch of the long-term buyback plan on Thursday to show officials are serious about eventually refilling the SPR, which has been drained by the war in Ukraine and sales mandated by Congress to raise revenue.
Hours after President Joe Biden touted its success during his commencement speech at West Point last Saturday, White House staffers learned that the temporary pier the military had just constructed into Gaza was falling apart. Four Army vessels had been beached, two in Gaza and two along the coast of Israel.