WASHINGTON: The US is seeking to buy another 6 million barrels of oil from energy companies to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the Department of Energy said on Monday.

The solicitation of oil for the SPR is the first for delivery into the facility’s Bryan Mound, Texas site since it underwent maintenance work and repairs, the department said.

It is seeking to 2 million barrels of the oil a month to be delivered to Bryan Mound from January to March next year.

The DOE “will continue to evaluate options to refill the SPR while securing a good deal for taxpayers, taking into account planned exchange returns and market developments,” said Charisma Troiano, a department spokesperson.

West Texas Intermediate crude prices rose on Monday to $78.72 a barrel on intensifying Middle East supply risks and fading fears of a US recession, but they were still just under the $79 to $79.99 level at which the US wants to buy back oil for the SPR.

The department is slowly replenishing the SPR after it sold 180 million barrels in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an effort to calm fuel prices that had risen. It was the biggest sale ever from the reserve.