Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve Being Sold Off Soon
Two months ago we warned membership, Congress, and the press about a small provision in the last big federal government spending deal which orders the elimination of the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR), a reserve of 1 million barrels of refined gasoline (700,000 in NJ) set up by the Obama Administration a decade ago after the fuel shortages caused by Superstorm Sandy. Since it was inserted in the language of the thousand-page bill that was not made public until about 48 hours before the government shut down, there was no ability or willingness to strip it out. You can read our original letter HERE.
This week the US Department of Energy announced they would try and sell off all 42 million gallons of gas in the near future, so that they are able to flood the local market in time for the July 4th weekend. They seemed to frame it as just a generous idea to lower local gas prices, rather than as something they have been forced into by a short-sighted Congressional mandate. That same mandate also requires this reserve be shut down after the fuel is sold off.
Still, if they are going to have to sell off this supply, this is as good a time as any to do it, prices have been trending down since a spike in April tied to the switch to summer blend, hopefully this release (though small in the grand scheme of things) will put some more downward pressure on wholesale prices.
If you're interested in buying directly from the Reserve, they are only selling in increments of 4.2 million gallons…
You can read the DOE statement HERE and read more news coverage HERE and HERE.