据油价网1月9日消息称，在2022年从战略石油储备（SPR）中提取超过2.21亿桶石油后，美国在新的一年里很难补充油库，美国能源部(DoE)以未能使纳税人受益为由拒绝了新年首批报价。

据彭博社和路透社报道，美国能源部目前已收到几份2月份以补充SPR为目标的购买报价。但是，这些报价因过于昂贵或未能满足其他要求而被拒绝。

2023年2月份的计划是购买300万桶原油，理想情况是在油价跌至每桶70美元左右时购买。这个300万桶的试点项目将为卖家提供未来交付的固定价格，这与美国能源部的正常操作程序形成鲜明对比，后者在没有固定价格合同的情况下购买石油以加快交付。

目前，WTI的交易价格约为每桶75至76美元，美国能源情报署(EIA)周一发布的新数据显示，SPR又减少了80万桶。

据彭博社援引未透露姓名的“知情人士”消息称，美国能源部将推迟原定于2月份的采购计划，并开始采用一种新的固定价格报价方式。

美国能源部周五在新闻机构发表的一份声明中说：“能源部只会选择符合所需原油规格的投标，而且价格对纳税人来说是一笔好交易。在对最初提交的文件进行审查后，能源部将不会为2月份的交付窗口做出任何更多选择。”

这些被拒绝的投标引发了人们的猜测，即重新填满储备油库将是一项挑战。

美国战略石油储备已达到1984年以来的最低水平，尽管美国能源部一直努力，但填补SPR的计划可能对卖家没有足够的吸引力。

此外，《华尔街日报》推测，美国能源部可能没有足够的资金来完全补充SPR。据《华尔街日报》报道，美国能源部的购买额度为480亿美元。以每桶70美元的理想价格计算，它将有足够的资金将SPR补充至4.4亿桶。

曹海斌 摘译自 油价网

原文如下：

Washington Has Trouble Refilling The SPR After 220 Million Barrel Draw

After drawing over 221 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in 2022, Washington is having a tough time refilling it in the New Year, with the Department of Energy (DoE) rejecting the first offers on the grounds that they failed to benefit taxpayers. 

The DoE has by now received several offers for February purchases to refill the SPR, according to both Bloomberg and Reuters. However, those offers have been rejected as too expensive or failing to meet other requirements. 

For February, the plan was to purchase 3 million barrels, ideally when oil dropped to around $70 per barrel. This 3-million-barrel pilot program would have given sellers a fixed price for future deliveries and is in contrast to the DoE’s normal operating procedure, which had seen it purchase oil for faster delivery without fixed-price contracts. 

Right now, WTI is trading around $75/$76 per barrel, and new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Monday shows another 0.8 million barrel draw from the SPR. 

According to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources “familiar with the matter”, the DoE will now postpone its originally planned February purchases and embark on a new approach for fixed-price offers. 

“DOE will only select bids that meet the required crude specifications and that are at a price that is a good deal for taxpayers,” the DoE said in a Friday statement carried by news agencies. “Following review of the initial submission, DOE will not be making any award selections for the February delivery window.”

The rejected bids are prompting speculation that refilling the SPR will be challenging, at best.

The plan to fill the SPR, which has reached its lowest level since 1984, might not be attractive enough to sellers, despite the DoE’s efforts at enticement. 

Additionally, the Wall Street Journal speculates that the DoE may not have enough funding to refill the SPR completely. According to WSJ, the DoE has $.48 billion in purchasing power. At the desired $70 per barrel, that would give it enough funding to refill the SPR to 440 million barrels.