By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration will seek as much as 6 million barrels of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a source accustomed to issue said on Tuesday, a purchase order that if accomplished will match its largest yet within the replenishment of the stash after a historic sale in 2022.

The administration will announce the solicitation as soon as Wednesday to purchase oil for delivery to the Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana, the source said, certainly one of 4 heavily guarded SPR locations along the coasts of that state and Texas.

The U.S. will buy the oil from energy firms for delivery in the primary few months of 2025, the source said.

The Department of Energy has taken advantage of relatively low crude prices which might be below the goal price of $79.99 per barrel at which it desires to buy back oil after the 2022 SPR sale of 180 million barrels over six months.

West Texas Intermediate oil was $71.70 a barrel on Tuesday, up after Hurricane Francine shut crude output within the Gulf of Mexico last week, but worries about demand have kept prices relatively low in recent weeks.

President Joe Biden announced the 2022 sale, the most important ever from the reserve, after Russia, certainly one of the world’s top three oil producers, invaded Ukraine. The invasion had helped push gasoline prices to a record of over $5 a gallon.

The administration has to date bought back greater than 50 million barrels, after selling the 180 million barrels at a mean of about $95 a barrel, the Energy Department says.

While oil is now below the goal buyback price, conflict within the Middle East and other aspects can quickly boost oil prices. In April, the U.S. canceled an SPR purchase of oil on account of rising prices.

The reserve currently holds 380 million barrels, most of which is sour crude, or oil that many U.S. refineries are engineered to process. Probably the most it has held was nearly 727 million barrels in 2009.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)