The U.S. government has begun a large-scale release of its strategic oil reserves, with the first batch of crude expected to enter the market by the end of this week.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Friday that it has issued a tender to release 86 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This release is part of a broader plan, announced last week, to allocate a total of 172 million barrels from the SPR.
The crude oil will be drawn from three storage sites located in Texas and Louisiana. According to the DOE's tender, participating companies are required to return the borrowed oil to the SPR, along with an additional premium. The DOE said that this approach will both replenish the SPR and help stabilize the oil market.
The move comes after the DOE announced on Wednesday that it would release 172 million barrels over the next 120 days to counter rising oil prices triggered by U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran. The U.S. government also said it plans to replenish about 200 million barrels of strategic reserves within the next year to ensure national energy security.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the SPR held 415.4 million barrels as of March 6.
U.S. to release strategic oil reserves, first batch this week
