July 11, 2024 [Reuters]- The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday it is offering to buy up to 4.5 million barrels of oil to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), though oil prices are now higher than the target price it wants to make such purchases.

It was the department’s latest offer to buy oil to replenish the SPR after President Joe Biden directed a sale of 180 million barrels, the most ever from the emergency reserve, in 2022 after Russia, one of the world’s major oil producers, invaded Ukraine.

The solicitation is to replenish the SPR’s Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana. The oil is for delivery from October through December and bids from oil companies are due on July 18.

The DOE continues to aim to buy the oil back at $79 per barrel, below the average price of $95 the 180 million barrels sold for, it said in a release. But $79 is far lower than the $82.10 a barrel price that the West Texas Intermediate benchmark settled at on Wednesday. The price has risen during the peak U.S. summer driving season and after a jump in U.S. refining activity last week.

The DOE said it not have more to say when asked for comment about it would raise the target price.

So far the DOE has bought back about 38.6 million barrels after 2022’s historic sale, and worked with Congress to cancel sales from the reserve that had been approved by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.