US Releases Strategic Petroleum Reserve of Millions of Barrels Again

Affected by the continuous escalation of the U.S.-Iran geopolitical conflict, international crude oil and domestic gasoline prices in the U.S. continue to rise, prompting the U.S. to reactivate operations for the release of strategic petroleum reserves.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of Energy publicly announced the latest reserve release plan on Monday, with a total of 53.3 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserve crude oil being released. The core purpose is to expand the supply of crude oil in the market and offset the upward pressure on oil prices triggered by geopolitical risks.

The reserves released this time have been determined to be mainly undertaken by enterprises, with several international energy trading and petrochemical giants allocated their quotas.

Among them, Trafigura Group secured about 13 million barrels of crude oil quota, becoming the largest purchaser in this round of reserve release. Marathon Oil and ExxonMobil follow closely behind, obtaining corresponding crude oil release quotas.

The implementation of this round of reserve release is a direct regulatory measure by the U.S. in response to recent tensions in the Middle East, disruptions to the flow in the Strait of Hormuz, and the continuous rise in oil prices.

Previously, the ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran reached an impasse, with market concerns about energy supply continuing to intensify, pushing international oil prices to rise significantly in a single day, and domestic gasoline prices in the U.S. are under pressure to rise in tandem.

Market analysis suggests that large-scale reserve releases can supplement the spot market supply in the short term, alleviating the emotions of rapid oil price increases and supply and demand pressures.

However, the effectiveness of this round of regulation still depends on the subsequent developments in the U.S.-Iran situation. If geopolitical conflicts escalate further, the moderating effect of reserve releases may be limited.