US solicits exchange of up to 17 million barrels of oil from strategic reserve

The ​United States has issued a request ​for proposal for an ‌exchange of ​up to 17 million barrels of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Department of ‌Energy said on Friday.

The exchange would be part of a global deal the US struck in March to try to control fuel prices impacted ‌by the Iran war. Washington agreed then to loan 172 million barrels ‌of oil from the SPR as part of a wider deal with about 30 countries in the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels from reserves around the world. The ⁠US ​has released about ⁠132.5 million barrels from the SPR since the US-Iran war began.

The latest 17 million barrel ⁠round would be a portion of the pending 40 million barrels of oil ​that would be the last batch of the release. The Department of Energy ⁠had offered the 40 million barrels in June, but revealed later that month that companies ⁠agreed ​to borrow only about 500,000 barrels.

The government offered those barrels again in late September. While the Department of Energy has not published the awards from ⁠that round, Friday's announcement implies that around 23 million barrels were awarded in the ⁠September round, ⁠research and consultancy Energy Aspects wrote in a note.