US to release oil from strategic reserve to stabilise market

The Trump administration announced on Monday, May 11, that it will lend energy companies 53.3 million barrels of crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a broader international effort to stabilise oil markets, which have surged amid the US–Israeli conflict with Iran.

Nine companies, including Exxon Mobil, Trafigura, and Marathon Petroleum Company, requested only about 58% of the 92.5 million barrels the Department of Energy (DOE) had offered to loan from the SPR last month, Caliber.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Earlier this spring, the DOE had already loaned around 80 million barrels from the reserve, as part of a plan to release a total of 172 million barrels.

The US agreed to the larger release in March under a deal involving more than 30 countries within the International Energy Agency, aiming to free up roughly 400 million barrels globally.

The move was intended to ease rising oil and fuel prices caused by Iran’s disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil shipments normally pass each day.

Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, described the conflict as the most severe energy crisis ever seen.

He added on May 7 that if supply disruptions persist, the agency stands ready to release additional reserves.

So far, member states have tapped about 20% of their available emergency stocks, according to Birol.

Rising fuel prices pose a political risk for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party, which is trying to defend narrow majorities in Congress ahead of November’s midterm elections.

As of Monday, US gasoline prices averaged $4.52 per gallon — the highest level since 2022, according to American Automobile Association data.

Under the program, the DOE is lending oil from the SPR to companies that will later return it in crude, with repayment premiums of up to 24%. Officials say the mechanism is designed to support market stability without costing US taxpayers.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, stored in underground salt caverns across Texas and Louisiana, currently holds about 384 million barrels — less than four days of global oil consumption.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov