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NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil
parliament’ energy committee, went further, say-
ing that Berlin might respond to the sanctions
with punitive measures of its own.
“If this doesn’t finally stop, then we would
have to think about serious measures to protect
ourselves. For instance, punitive duties on natu-
ral gas from the US are possible,” he told Russian
press on June 5. “The behaviour of the US in this
issue should no longer be seen as a friendly act; it
is an offence against the sovereignty of Germany
and the EU.”
Relations between Germany and the US
have often been strained during Trump’s presi-
dency. The pair have clashed not only over Nord
Stream 2 but also US calls for Germany to raise
its defence spending, among other issues.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel thwarted rather than because of tensions between the two
Trump’s plan to host a G7 meeting at the White allies.
House this month. And on June 5, Trump ordered Germany’s relationship with the US is “com-
the US military to remove 9,500 troops from Ger- plicated,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas
many, although Washington insisted that the said on June 7, saying that the withdrawal of US
move was the result of months of preparations, troops was regrettable.
US government buys 126,000
barrels of crude for SPR
US THE US Department of Energy (DoE) said
this week that it had bought 126,000 barrels
of crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
(SPR). The crude was acquired from Shell Trad-
ing, a US-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell,
which in turn bought the oil from small and
medium-sized producers.
The move is part of a plan designed to help US
producers in a challenging market as they con-
tend with low prices and demand, and limited
storage. However, the amount of crude acquired
is just a fraction of what the DoE initially said it
would purchase from producers.
In March, US President Donald Trump
ordered the DoE to fill the SPR, which was esti-
mated to have available capacity of around 77mn
barrels. Analysts warned, however, that not all
of this capacity would technically be available to
fill. The DoE then cancelled an initial plan to buy
30mn barrels, after US Congress did not agree
to fund it. A subsequent plan to buy up to 1mn
barrels to help small and medium-sized produc-
ers was unveiled in May, and it is under this plan
that the DoE has made its purchase from Shell. Trading, Mercuria Energy America and MVP
The DoE has not said whether it still intended Holdings – had agreed to store a combined
to buy more crude under the 1mn barrel plan. 23mn barrels in the SPR. They will be allowed to
The department has also started renting store this crude in the reserve until March 2021,
out SPR capacity to oil companies. In April, it paying a small amount of oil to cover the cost of
announced that nine companies – Chevron, storage.
ExxonMobil, Energy Transfer, Vitol, Atlantic Deliveries of this crude to the SPR are
Trading, Alon USA, Equinor Marketing & expected to be completed this month.
P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 11•June•2020
