U.S. DOE To Continue Royalty-In-Kind Strategic Oil Stocks

The U.S. Department of Energy Friday solicited bids for royalty-in-kind, or RIK, oil to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by up to 13 million barrels from August to December.

Filling the nation’s emergency crude stockpile when oil is trading over $100 a barrel is controversial on Capitol Hill, with many federal lawmakers – backed by consumer groups, trucking and airline industries – calling for the Bush administration to tap stocks to relieve price pressure.


The DOE said continuing the RIK program, which allows companies to pay royalty fees in barrels in lieu of cash, would fill the SPR at a fill rate of around 76,000 barrels a day over the six-month period.

The agency’s current RIK program was due to expire in July. Bids for the new tender are due by May 13, with the contracts starting in July for first delivery in August.

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