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U.S. Ships Millions of Reserve Oil Barrels Overseas Amid War
Exports Account for About 40% of Crude Released From Strategic Petroleum Reserve So Far
Nearly half of the crude oil released from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is being exported, a fresh sign of how severely global supplies have tightened amid the Iran war.
About 13 million barrels from the U.S. emergency stockpile have sailed to Europe and other destinations, according to data from Kpler based on U.S. Customs’ documents. That represents roughly 40% of the crude released so far from the reserve.
The last tanker to load crude from the SPR was the Kyrakatingo, which took 700,000 barrels of Bryan Mound Sour oil, a variety named after one of the four underground salt caverns where U.S. emergency supplies are stored.
It’s not uncommon for oil from the emergency cache to be exported. In 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global oil flows, traders shipped almost 21 million barrels from the SPR to refiners in Europe and Asia, or roughly 10% of the total release. Still, the scale of exports this time highlights the strain on global crude markets after the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
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The Trump administration pledged to release 172 million barrels from the reserve as part of a broader effort by advanced economies to ease the strain of the Iran war on global energy markets. So far, the U.S. has agreed to loan 133 million barrels, with more than half snatched by trading companies. Trafigura Group alone secured about a quarter of that.
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The oil is being released in batches between March and August, and so far, only 31.3 million barrels have effectively left the caverns, according to the Energy Department.
The release comes at a pivotal moment for President Donald Trump, whose administration is trying to negotiate a peace deal with Iran while confronting rising fuel costs at home. Prices at the pump have climbed 50% since the start of the war to around $4.50 a gallon. At the same time, American refiners are poised to boost crude intake ahead of the summer driving season, when demand for the fuel peaks.
