US issues third SPR release amid Middle East conflict

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released a third batch of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) since the beginning of the US-Israel conflict with Iran.

IMAGE: Oil storage tanks. Getty Images

The DOE has released about 26.03 million bbls of crude oil from its West Hackberry site last week, to domestic refiners including BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Marathon Petroleum, Vitol, and more.

The latest SPR release builds on earlier supply of about 55 million bbls from the Bayou Choctaw, Bryan Mound, and West Hackberry sites, the DOE said.

The move marks “the next phase of DOE’s execution of the United States’ 172-million-barrel contribution to the International Energy Agency’s collective action to stabilize global oil supply,” it said.

Earlier this month, the DOE released 8.5 million bbls of crude oil from the SPR at the Bryan Mound site, marking the second phase of contribution to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) coordinated emergency stocks release to stabilise global oil supply.

“To date, more than 10 million barrels have already been delivered to market... helping accelerate critical near-term oil flows into the market.,” the agency added.

The US SPR stands at around 409 million bbls as of 10 April, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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