BlockBeats report: On March 12, U.S. Energy Secretary Wright issued a statement saying that all 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency have unanimously agreed to Trump’s request to coordinate the release of 400 million barrels of crude oil and refined products from their strategic reserves to lower energy prices. As part of this action, Trump has authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve starting next week. Based on the planned release rate, the delivery is expected to take approximately 120 days.
At the same time, Trump pledged to safeguard U.S. energy security by responsibly managing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The U.S. has arranged to replenish approximately 200 million barrels of the strategic reserve over the next year—20% more than originally planned for withdrawal—and at no cost to taxpayers.