The Department of Energy is selling 18 million barrels of sour crude from storage caverns in Texas and Louisiana in a tender that closes Jan. 4, with deliveries from Feb. 1 through March 31, according to a statement on its website. Crude futures have dropped about 15% since late October, when President Joe Biden and his team began indicating they were considering a variety of tools to bring down fuel prices. Oil has fallen more sharply since news of the omicron variant of the coronavirus broke in late November. Biden to Release U.S. Oil Reserves in Challenge to OPEC+