Energy Department to Loan Up to 315,000 Barrels From Northeast Heating Oil Reserve as Prices Jump 70%
Secretary Chris Wright acted after a request from Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King. Fuel oil is up 70% from a year ago, and borrowers must repay the oil with a premium.
The Department of Energy will lend out nearly a third of the emergency home heating oil reserve for the Northeast, ahead of what Fox Business says is a pricey winter.
On Wednesday the department said it plans to loan up to about 315,000 barrels from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, which holds one million barrels of ultra-low sulfur distillate at four sites. Fox reports that heating oil prices are up about 70% from a year ago as global conflicts squeeze supply.
The terms. Companies that borrow in the 2026-27 heating season must return the same volume plus a premium before the 2027-28 season. Releases would come from storage sites in Boston, South Portland, Maine, and New Haven, Connecticut, and be finished by Nov. 13. No site can provide more than 150,000 barrels, and the minimum offer is 25,000 barrels. Bids are due next Tuesday, Oct. 27, and both fuel retailers and terminal holders can take part.
Who asked. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he acted after getting a letter from Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, and talking at length with Collins. "The Trump administration is committed to doing everything in our power to lower energy costs for the American people," he said. Collins said about half of Maine households use fuel oil, and that the department expects the release to put "downward pressure" on prices. She said it would raise New England supplies by 13%. King said Maine has been "hit especially hard" since the start of the Iran war.
Wright's pitch. He called the loan "a temporary measure to solve a temporary supply disruption," and urged the governors of New York and New England to work with the administration on the Constitution Pipeline, so that natural gas can replace home heating oil. He said that would save residents billions of dollars.
What remains unknown. Fox does not say how much the loan will lower what households pay. That is the department's and senators' expectation, not a result.