The US is to sell 26 million more barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

The SPR is the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil – the oil stocks are stored in underground salt caverns at four storage sites in Texas and Louisiana.

Last year, US President Joe Biden announced an unprecedented release of oil from US reserves in a bid to lower fuel prices exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Experts note that the sale announced on 13th February 2023 may temporarily push the reserve below its current level of about 372 million barrels, its lowest level since 1983.

The Department of Energy said bids on the oil are due today, 28th February, and that the oil would be delivered from 1st April to 30th June.