OPEC AND OIL PRICES

Price Slide Might Spur US SPR Purchases

A further decline in world oil prices might encourage the US to resume large-scale crude purchases for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), according to the US Secretary of Energy, Mr. John Herrington. Speaking to reporters in London on 25 October, Mr. Herrington said: "Today we have 489mn barrels of oil in the SPR. We have the capacity to put 750mn barrels in there. If oil prices continue to decrease, it becomes a pretty...