HOUSTON/WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Wednesday awarded contracts to buy 2.8 million barrels of oil for the government's emergency reserve for more than $81 a barrel, $2 above the target purchase price.

The Department of Energy (DOE) said , opens new tab it will spent $225.6 million to buy oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) from Atlantic Trading & Marketing, Macquarie Commodities, and Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals. The oil is set to be delivered in September.

The price is about $81.32 a barrel, based on the DOE announcement. The energy department has previously said , opens new tab it aims to purchase at a price of $79 per barrel or below, less than the average of about $95 it received for 2022 emergency SPR sales.

A spokesperson for Department of Energy said the average purchase price for Wednesday's and earlier purchases together remained below $79.

DOE has already purchased 26.28 million barrels of oil for the SPR for an average price of $76.47, as well as accelerated nearly 4 million barrels of exchange returns.

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-buy-oil-spr-oil-above-79-target-price-latest-round-2024-03-27/