US to release 50M bbls of crude from Strategic Petroleum Reserves

Oil

The US has announced that it will release 50M bbls of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) in a coordinated effort with other major oil-consuming countries to ease oil prices, Argus reports. This is set to take place in two batches, initially comprising of 32M bbl release across the next five months, with some early deliveries being made available from late December. Participating companies have been asked to bid for the crude by 6 December and will have to return the loaned volume to the US SPR before 2024, while also paying a premium based on how long the oil is borrowed for. In addition, a second 18M bbls will also be exchanged in the coming months as the Biden administration accelerates a deal previously authorised by US Congress.

Furthermore, the White House also stated that this release will take place in parallel with other nations including China, India, Japan, South Korea and the UK, according to Reuters. Since this initial statement India has announced a 5M bbls SPR release over an unspecified period, while the United Kingdom has authorised companies to voluntarily release up to 1.5M bbls of oil reserves. South Korea has confirmed that it will participate, however the volume and timing of this will reportedly be decided once further discussions have taken place.