By Timothy Gardner

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

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

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

The Department of Energy has taken advantage of relatively low crude prices that are below the target price of $79.99 per barrel at which it wants 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 in 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 largest ever from the reserve, after Russia, 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 so far bought back more than 50 million barrels, after selling the 180 million barrels at an average of about $95 a barrel, the Energy Department says.

While oil is now below the target buyback price, conflict in the Middle East and other factors can quickly boost oil prices. In April, the U.S. canceled an SPR purchase of oil due to 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. The most it has held was nearly 727 million barrels in 2009.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)