The US Department of Energy injected just over 92,000 b/d into the
nation's strategic crude oil stockpile for the week ended November 9, the same
week that US benchmark crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange
flirted with $100/b.

According to weekly data released by the US Energy Information
Administration, the DOE's statistical arm, inventories in the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve stood at 694.68 million barrels as of November 9, up by
645,000 barrels, or an average of 92,142 b/d, from 694.035 million barrels in
place on November 2.

The injections are part of a program reinstated by the DOE this summer to
replenish the reserve with royalty-in-kind oil after emergency crude
withdrawals following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. DOE attempted to
tender for the crude twice this spring, but rejected offers as too high.

Since last week, SPR inventories have changed little, according to DOE's
web site, which noted total stocks of 694.7 million barrels as of November 14.

The total comprises 276.7 million barrels of sweet crude and 418 million
barrels of sour crude held in four salt-dome caverns along the Gulf Coast.

DOE's web site indicates it will inject 1.4 million barrels (about 46,700
b/d) for November, and 3 million barrels, or about 100,000 b/d, in the
high-demand month of December.

DOE last week announced it would expand the RIK fill program beginning in
January, and would inject at a rate of 70,000 b/d over a six-month period. The
fills come despite concerns by some lawmakers, economists and analysts that
the program is helping to lift prices because it is taking much-needed crude
out of an already tight market.

US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman insists the SPR fill rate is too small
to materially lift crude or products prices.

--Cathy Landry, cathy_landry@platts.com