(Reuters) -The U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday it will purchase 3 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for delivery in August, and asked that offers be submitted by May 31.
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm had signaled to lawmakers late last week that her department could start repurchasing oil for the stockpile soon, after a record sale last year during a spike in prices that pushed the level of the reserve to the lowest since 1983.
The new purchase would be for sour crude oil, delivered to the Big Hill SPR site in Texas sometime during the month of August.
(Writing by Richard ValdmanisEditing by Chris Reese)
