U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday the government wants to refill the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve and is already adding oil, though not as quickly as he would like.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference in Miami, Wright said U.S. President Donald Trump had lobbied last summer to secure funding to restore and refill the emergency stockpile.
Wright said some funds were secured to repair SPR infrastructure damaged during rapid drawdowns in 2022.
He added that the administration is exploring alternative approaches to replenish the reserve without direct government spending, including potential deals with private companies to supply oil.
(Reporting by Nathan Crooks and Sheila Dang in Miami and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)