All articles tagged with #spr
Oil prices fell over the week to about $96 Brent despite Middle East tensions and Hormuz disruptions, marking OilPrice’s biggest weekly decline since 2025 as March OPEC+ output cuts and Saudi field outages limit supply, while China allows SPR draws and other nations move to bolster energy security.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent floated a possible additional SPR release to keep oil prices down, with hints that sanctions on Iranian oil in transit could be eased. He said the Treasury isn’t intervening in futures markets but is seeking to increase supply from ships, and highlighted potential roles for Japan in securing or supplying Gulf oil reserves.
President Trump ordered the release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be drawn over about 120 days, as part of a coordinated IEA effort to ease an oil-price spike tied to the Iran conflict; Washington plans to replenish the SPR with 200 million barrels within a year. With WTI around $92 a barrel and SPR holdings near 415 million barrels, analysts say the move may help but won’t fix underlying supply disruptions or Strait of Hormuz tensions driving prices higher.
Oil cooled from four-year highs after reports that the U.S. and allies were weighing a coordinated release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, though Washington has not committed; traders warn Gulf supply disruptions tied to Iran’s actions and Hormuz tensions could push prices higher and ripple into inflation and Fed policy, with analysts noting a lasting fix would require restoring Gulf exports rather than a one-off SPR release.
Crude oil inventories in the US fell by 6.7 million barrels, surprising analysts who expected a build of 525,000 barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) inventory dropped for the eighth week in a row, with 1.6 million barrels sold. US crude oil production fell to 12.2 million bpd, 900,000 bpd lower than the peak in March 2020. WTI and Brent prices rose, with WTI trading at $72.91 per barrel and Brent at $76.83 per barrel.
Crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 3.69 million barrels, while gasoline inventories fell by 2.46 million barrels and distillate inventories fell by 886,000 barrels. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) inventory dropped for the seventh week in a row, with 2.4 million barrels of congressionally mandated crude oil sold during the week ending May 12. U.S. crude oil production remained unchanged at 12.3 million bpd, and the price of WTI and Brent were both trading down on Tuesday.