The United States offered on Sept. 29 to lend energy companies up to 40 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserve to help ease fuel prices during the war with Iran.
The offer covers the final portion of the 172 million barrels that the United States pledged to release under an international agreement reached in March.
The Department of Energy (DOE) stated that companies that borrow the oil must repay it with more barrels than they received. The DOE stated that this will put oil on the market now and leave the reserve with more oil later at no cost to taxpayers.
“With today’s actions, the United States continues to lead the coordinated efforts to stabilize oil markets for the benefit of Americans and people around the world,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in a statement posted on X.
“While the United States and Japan are delivering on their commitments, several European member countries have released only a fraction of the crude oil and petroleum products they pledged. We urge every member country to fulfill its commitments. Thanks to President Trump, these exchanges will also ensure America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to be refilled, while saving taxpayers more than $3 billion.”
In March, the United States agreed to loan 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as its contribution to a total of 400 million barrels by more than 30 countries in the International Energy Agency.
The agreement is aimed at lowering oil and gasoline prices amid the Iran conflict, which began on Feb. 28. In May, the Energy Department announced a loan of 53 million barrels from reserve sites in Louisiana and Texas as part of that commitment. The department stated that it would evaluate market conditions and operational capacity as it pursued additional releases to meet the full U.S. pledge.
Tracey Ryniec, a stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, criticized the offer in a post on X on Sept. 29.
“I’m shocked they are bidding out the last 40 million barrels. That tells me they are desperate to keep oil prices around $80–$90 for another few weeks,” Ryniec said in her post. “Because this release will take the SPR below 250 million barrels. Very dangerous level to go.”
U.S. crude oil production remains near record levels. Production averaged about 13.8 million barrels per day in June, compared with a record of about 14 million in October 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. U.S. crude oil production has more than doubled over the past 20 years, rising to 13.8 million barrels per day in June 2026 from about 5.4 million in June 2006.
