US DOE says approves 11-mil bbl sale of SPR crude

New York (Platts)--14Sep2005

The US Department of Energy Wednesday said it has approved the sale of
11-mil bbl of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make up for
Hurricane Katrina-related production shortfalls.
     A DOE spokesman said the companies awarded the crude sales were BP,
Marathon, Shell, Astra and Vitol. BP has been awarded 2.7-mil bbl, Shell 2-mil
bbl, Vitol 3-mil bbl, Astra 1-mil bbl and Marathon 2.3-mil bbl.
     The DOE Sep 6 began the process of selling 30-mil bbl of crude from the
SPR as part of a broader international effort led by the Paris-based
International Energy Agency to release 60-mil bbl of crude and products to the
market to make up for supplies lost to Katrina.
      The US was offering 15-mil bbl of sweet and 15-mil bbl of sour crude
from three of the four Gulf Coast salt caverns that make up its emergency
stockpile.
     The DOE has earlier approved the loan of a further 12.6-mil of SPR crude
to ExxonMobil, BP, Marathon, Valero, Placid and Total.

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