Funding for the Trump administration’s proposed plan to fill the nation’s emergency oil reserve has been blocked from the COVID-19 stimulus package, reports WorldOil. The $3 billion plan would provide a boost to struggling American drillers facing the negative impacts of historically low oil prices.
The plan to top up the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve by purchasing 77 million barrels of crude can still show up in future legislation in the coming weeks, according to WorldOil.
“We continue to expect the administration to find a way to add oil to the reserve,” said Benjamin Salisbury, a senior policy analyst at Height Capital Markets, “potentially though emergency authority, repurposing unspent funds, and/or another act of Congress.”