Department of Energy releases new notice of sale as gasoline prices continue to fall

Taylor Lane, The News Courier, Athens, Ala.
·2 min read

Jul. 27—On Tuesday, the Biden Administration announced that it is releasing the next Notice of Sale to supply additional barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in addition to the more than 125 million barrels of oil that have already been sold.

These releases, along with coordinated releases from international partners, have reduced gas prices by an estimated 40 cents per gallon, according to the Department of the Treasury.

The Administration will continue the work of shoring up supply and bringing prices down by repurchasing oil for the SPR in future years.

Continuing SPR releases

The Department of Energy has already sold more than 125 million barrels into the market since Biden released one million barrels per day from the SPR earlier this spring. Additional barrels are planned to be delivered to customers in the coming months.

There is no precedent for this level of drawdown. It was estimated in March that the maximum drawdown capacity of the SPR was only 500,000 barrels per day.

On Tuesday, the Department of Energy issued a notice to sell 20 million barrels from the Reserve. This is the fifth sale that the President has authorized. The Administration expects to continue to deliver barrels for several more months.

Update on gasoline prices

Nationally, gasoline prices have fallen for six straight weeks, and are nearly 70 cents below where they were last month. Currently, more than 40,000 stations across the United States are selling gasoline for less than $3.99 per gallon.

Local impact

According to the city, department heads are increasing line items for fuel and oil in their proposed Fiscal 2023 budgets for the upcoming budget hearings.

"Because of TVA's budget year, the Electric Department is the one department that operates on a different budget year timeline. Its budget starts in July (all others start in October), so its Fiscal 2023 budget has already been passed. Blair Davis, manager of the Electric Department, said he increased fuel costs for Fiscal 2023 by 100 percent," said City of Athens Communications Specialist Holly Hollman.

Hollman went on to explain, "in June, the Street Department reported it was at 66.7 percent of its budget year, but for fuel, it was at 82 percent of its budget. The Sanitation Department reported in June it had already used 91 percent of its budget for fuel and oil."

The Athens Police Department has also been impacted by the high gas prices.

"Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said officers are taking minor reports by phone to cut down on trips. The department has also cut back on out-of-town trips to pick up someone on select minor traffic warrants," said Hollman.