The U.S. Department of Energy has approved another exchange of 2.7 million barrels of crude oil for release to ExxonMobil from the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), the DOE announced on Monday.
This release — the 12th of its kind — is part of the authorization published in the DOE announcement from Nov. 23, 2021.
The DOE has provided 24.4 million barrels of SPR crude oil overall available for exchange to increase the fuel supply of the United States.
Companies that receive SPR crude oil through the exchange agree to return the amount of crude oil received, with an added amount dependent upon the length of time in which they hold the oil, as is the case with all exchanges, according to the DOE.
There have been 38 million barrels of crude oil from the SPR sold through sales mandated by Congress and including sales accelerated by the administration since last September.
This includes 19.9 million barrels awarded in September and 18.1 million in January for a total of 62.4 million barrels put on the market through sales and the exchange so far.
Last week President Joe Biden announced an emergency sale of an additional 30 million barrels due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has sharply increased oil prices worldwide.
Section 161 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act grants authority to the president under specified conditions to direct the secretary of energy to conduct a public sale of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve, according to the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
The DOE sells SPR oil in a competitive auction to the highest bidder.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.