美国将购买多达100万桶石油作为应急储备

据能源世界网5月14日华盛顿报道，美国能源部周三表示，将购买多达100万桶低硫原油，用于应急石油储备。此举旨在帮助那些因疫情抑制石油需求而陷入困境的生产商。

此举是在该部门取消了为战略石油储备购买多达3000万桶的最初计划之后，美国国会未能为其提供资金。

今年3月，能源部试图寻找资金购买总计7700万桶石油，这将使该储备达到约7.14亿桶。

该部门在一份新闻稿中称，购买多达100万桶原油"将是对SPR可获得的现货原油状况的测试，而不是对金融市场交易WTI NYMEX期货合约的测试。该部门表示，将从国内中小型生产商购买石油。

能源部没有立即回应有关如果测试产生令人满意的结果是否还会再采购的问题。

在取消了3,000万桶的购买之后，能源部制定了一项计划，要求公司租用空间在SPR中储存一些石油。能源部在4月底表示，包括雪佛龙公司和埃克森美孚公司在内的9家公司已同意租用储存2300万桶原油的空间。

根据美国能源部网站显示，到目前为止，根据租赁计划，截至4月底和5月，已经向SPR输送了约480万桶石油。

郝芬 译自 能源世界网

原文如下：

U.S. to buy up to 1 million barrels of oil for emergency reserve

he US Energy Department said on Wednesday it will buy up to 1 million barrels of sweet crude for the government's emergency petroleum reserve as part an effort to help producers struggling as the coronavirus strangles oil demand.

The move came after the department canceled an initial plan to buy up to 30 million barrels for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, after Congress failed to fund it as some lawmakers complained it would help oil companies during the coronavirus pandemic.

In March the department tried to find funding to purchase a total of 77 million barrels, which would have brought the reserve to its capacity of about 714 million barrels.

The purchase of up to 1 million barrels "will serve as a test of the current conditions of physical crude oil available to the SPR as opposed to the financial market trading WTI NYMEX futures contracts," the department said in a release. The department will purchase the oil from small to midsize domestic producers, it said.

The Energy Department did not immediately respond to a question about whether there would be further purchases if the test yielded favorable results.

After it canceled the 30 million barrel purchase, the Energy Department devised a plan for companies to rent space to store some oil in the SPR. In late April, the Energy Department said nine companies including Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp had agreed to rent space to store 23 million barrels of crude.

About 4.8 million barrels of oil have been delivered so far to the SPR in late April and in May under the leasing program, the Energy Department website showed.