US to Release 172 Million Barrels of Oil for IEA Relief Plan

The Trump administration plans to release 172 million barrels from the US emergency oil reserve as part of the coordinated effort by nations around the world to ease surging crude and fuel prices — less than two weeks since the beginning of the Iran war.

The release, announced by Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a statement Wednesday evening, will take about 120 days to fully deliver the oil from the Energy Department’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’s part of the plan by member nations of the International Energy Agency to discharge a total of 400 million barrels from reserves globally.