The Department of Energy said on Tuesday it has sold 1 million bbl of gasoline from its Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve to five companies to complete a previously announced move aiming to lower prices at the gas pump this summer.
DOE said it awarded contracts to BP (500,000 bbl), George E. Warren (100,000 bbl), Vitol (200,000 bbl), Freepoint Commodities (100,000 bbl) and Irving Oil (98,824 bbl).
DOE said the gasoline was sold at an average price of $2.34/gal and would be released from its reserve to the companies no later than June 30 and would hit the market soon after.
The NYMEX RBOB contract for July delivery settled at $2.529/gal on June 28.
DOE said the sale would increase gasoline supply for local retailers ahead of the U.S. Fourth of July holiday, particularly for the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The average U.S. retail price for regular gasoline was $3.501/gal on Tuesday, down from $3.535 a year ago, according to AAA. OPIS is a provider of daily retail fuel pricing data to AAA.
In May, DOE said the gasoline sale would consist of 900,000 bbl from the Port Reading, N.J., site and 98,824 bbl from the South Portland site in Maine, which are part of the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve storage sites.
The reserve, which was created after Superstorm Sandy ravaged the region in 2012, has never been tapped but holds 700,000 bbl of gasoline in the New York Harbor, 200,000 bbl at a Boston terminal and 100,000 bbl in South Portland, Maine.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-02-24 1114ET
