The U.S. issued two solicitations on Friday to buy a total of 6 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as the administration of President Joe Biden replenishes the stockpile following a historic sale in 2022. The Department of Energy said the oil is for delivery to the SPR’s Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana from September through December. The department this year moved to a direct purchase strategy of oil for the reserve instead of basing the purchasing price on an index of prices. It said that move and the completion of maintenance at Bayou Choctaw has helped it buy 38.6 million barrels of ... (full story)