Energy Secretary Jennifer Granaholm is non-committal on whether the U.S. will increase its pace of replenishing the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The Energy Department this year has been buying about 3 million barrels of oil a month for the reserve,. after selling 180 million barrels in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The effort resulted in the reserve reaching its lowest level since the 1980s.

"It could pick up more than that," Granholm told Reuters on Tuesday about the pace of replenishing. 

The reserve on the Gulf Coast is four underground salt caverns, which have been undergoing maintenance. That is expected to be complete by the end of the year, according to Reuters. 

Granholm also told the wire service  that once the maintenance work is complete, that would allow the DOE to increase the pace of the oil buys.