Trump administration to buy 1 million barrels in first move to refill U.S. oil reserves

[Data analyzing in commodities energy market: the charts and quotes on display. US WTI crude oil price analysis. Stunning price drop for the last 20 years.]
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The Department of Energy said Tuesday it is looking to buy [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-21/us-to-buy-1-million-barrels-for-strategic-petroleum-reserve] 1 million barrels of oil for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, seeking to take advantage of low oil prices to start refilling the country's depleted emergency crude supply.

WTI crude is down ~30% since its mid-January peak, when President Trump pledged in his inaugural address to fill the reserve "right to the top."

The DoE said it plans to buy oil for delivery in December and January, using part of $171 million for federal crude purchases meant to fill U.S. emergency stockpiles allocated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The SPR has a maximum capacity of ~700 million barrels, and currently only holds 408 million barrels after U.S. crude reserves levels significantly declined under the Biden administration, which sold ~180 million barrels to combat rising pump prices.

Oil futures rose modestly Tuesday after both the WTI and Brent contracts had hit their lowest since early May in the previous session, as record U.S. oil production and the OPEC+ decision to press ahead with planned supply hikes raised expectations of oversupply, weighing on prices for the past three weeks.

The U.S.-China trade dispute also has raised concerns about a potential slowdown in global economic growth that would curb demand for oil, although both sides have made some effort in recent days to downplay the disagreement.

"The market has entered a period of consolidation as traders await fresh catalysts," Exness analyst Christopher Tahir said in a note, as traders are watching for progress on U.S.-China trade talks and this week's U.S. inventory data, but "despite this near-term pause, the market's underlying bearish structure remains a headwind, with supply outpacing demand."

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CL1:COM]) for November delivery closed +0.5% to $57.82/bbl, front-month Brent crude (CO1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CO1:COM]) for December delivery ended +0.5% to $61.32/bbl, and front-month Nymex November natural gas (NG1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NG1:COM]) settled +2.3% to $3.474/MMBtu.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:USO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USO]), (BNO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BNO]), (NYSEARCA:UCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UCO]), (SCO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SCO]), (USL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USL]), (DBO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DBO]), (DRIP [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DRIP]), (GUSH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GUSH]), (USOI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USOI]), (UNG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UNG]), (BOIL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BOIL]), (KOLD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KOLD]), (UNL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UNL]), (FCG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/FCG]), (NYSEARCA:XLE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLE])

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