The U.S. will begin releasing crude oil from its strategic reserve at the end of next week.

New York.- The United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced this Friday that it will begin the release of oil from its strategic reserve at the end of next week, with a first phase of 86 million barrels of crude oil. In a statement, the DOE notes that it has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a crude oil exchange from the strategic reserve with companies after announcing on Wednesday that it will release 172 million barrels of oil. This measure aims to address the escalation of crude oil prices due to the war in the Middle East and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. The first phase of this release will cover 86 million barrels of black gold. Companies will return the oil lent to the DOE “along with additional barrels as a premium, thereby strengthening the reserve and stabilizing markets at no cost to U.S. taxpayers”. It is expected that the first deliveries will begin to arrive on the market at the end of next week, according to the DOE.

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“The measure adopted today reflects President (Donald) Trump’s constant commitment to safeguard the energy security of the United States and to contribute constructively to the stability of the global market,” said Undersecretary of the Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, Kyle Haustveit, in the statement.

Energy Crisis

Currently, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds about 415 million barrels. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also decided this Wednesday to gradually release 400 million barrels of crude oil to the market. The use of these reserves, approved unanimously by the 32 member states of the IEA, represents the largest release of reserves in the agency’s history, created after the first oil crisis of 1973. The previous one was in 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war in the Middle East has led to an energy crisis due to the significant escalation of oil prices in international markets in the face of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic energy enclave controlled by Iran, through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil and a large part of strategic minerals passed.