US to close Northeast gasoline reserve with 1 million-barrel sale

President Joe Biden's administration will sell nearly 1 million barrels of gasoline in the U.S.-managed stockpile in northeastern states as required by law, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday, effectively closing the near decade-old reserve.

The department created the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy left motorists scrambling for fuel. But storing refined fuel is costlier than storing crude oil, so closing the reserve was included in U.S funding legislation signed in March by Biden, a Democrat.

Bids are due on May 28 and the Treasury Department's general funds gets proceeds from the sale, the department said.

The volumes will be allocated in quantities of 100,000 barrels with each barrel containing 42 gallons, the department said. The gasoline should flow into local retailers ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, it said.

While the sale was mandated by bipartisan legislation, both the Biden administration