In April 2022, the DOE sold 950,000 barrels to Unipec at $103.30 a barrel for a total of about $98 million, according to a
DOE report. In July 2022, DOE sold another 950,000 barrels to China for around $119 per barrel for a total of about $113 million, according to the
FY22 Emergency Drawdown No. 3A Successful Awards Report. The Biden administration is selling SPR oil to China while China is buying Russian oil at a discount despite sanctions on Russia. China International United Petroleum & Chemical Co., Unipec, chartered at least
10 tankers so far this month to transport Russian oil that is loaded from Kozmino port—a five-fold increase on the number of hired tankers booked for trade a month earlier. China spent
$18.9 billion on Russian oil, gas and coal in the three months that ended in May—almost
double the amount from a year earlier, according to customs data.
SPR oil is sold to the highest bidder, and some of the businesses entitled to make bids are American subsidiaries of foreign corporations like Unipec, the
trading arm of the China Petrochemical Corporation, which is wholly owned by the Chinese government.
China purchased that oil from U.S. emergency reserves to bolster its own stockpile for strategic use.
China has been buying large quantities of oil for its reserves since the early COVID lockdowns when prices were low due to demand destruction.
Earlier this month, IER posted a blog that said the Department of Energy (DOE) sold China almost 1 million barrels…
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