美国计划出租战略石油储备空间

据路透社4月1日报道，据两位知情人士透露，美国计划出租战略石油储备空间为能源公司提供石油存储设施,此前为紧急储备购买数百万桶石油的计划因资金短缺而被取消。

随着需求锐减，原油供过于求的情况可能会令商业储油设施不堪重负，这将进一步推高全球能源储备空间的价格，而战略石油储备空间出租计划可能有助于美国应对这一危机。最初的计划是让美国能源部(DOE)使用联邦资金从国内石油生产商手中购买原油，但是国会并没有批准购买的资金，这迫使能源部上周取消了这项提议。

战略石油储备空间出租计划是最初计划的一个调整。修订后的计划将帮助交易员和其他石油厂商在危机结束后出售储存的原油，以渡过油价急剧下跌的难关。

俄克拉何马州库欣市是美国主要的商业石油仓储中心，但很快存储空间就被填满。

美国战略石油储备有7700万桶的闲置产能，略低于该国四天的使用量。目前，在德克萨斯州和路易斯安那州海岸的盐穴中储存着大约6.35亿桶石油。目前尚不清楚美国能源部是否曾将盐穴中的存储空间出租给私营公司。

3月份美国原油期货下跌54%，创下该基准指数历史上最大的月度跌幅。本周早些时候，美国最重要品级原油现货价格约为每桶10美元，为20多年来的最低水平。

邹勤 摘译自 路透社

原文如下：

U.S. aims to lease space in emergency oil stockpile, after buying plan canceled - sources

The Trump administration plans to lease out space for energy companies to store oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, after a previous effort to buy millions of barrels for the emergency stockpile was canceled over a lack of funding, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The new plan could help the United States deal with a growing glut of crude oil that risks overwhelming commercial storage tanks and sending world energy prices deeper into a tailspin as the coronavirus pandemic slashes demand for fuel. It could be announced as soon as Wednesday, the sources said.

The plan is a change of tack from the initial scheme, which would have had the Department of Energy (DOE) purchase crude from domestic drilers using federal funds.

But Congress did not approve funds for the buys, forcing the Energy Department last week to cancel the proposal.

The revised plan would help traders and others as they try to ride out a precipitous drop in the price of oil by storing crude for sale later once the crisis is over.

The country’s main commercial storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma is quickly filling up.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has 77 million barrels of free capacity, a little less than the country uses in four days. It currently holds about 635 million barrels of oil in salt caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts.

It was not clear if the DOE has ever before leased space in the caverns to private companies.

U.S. oil futures lost 54% in March, the biggest monthly percentage decline in the benchmark’s history. The country’s flagship physical crude oil grade traded at about $10 a barrel, the lowest in more than two decades, earlier this week.