The United States will release 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserves in an effort to reduce oil prices that have risen due to supply disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said today.
The latter said this was part of a broader release of 400 million barrels of oil, which the International Energy Agency (IEA) had agreed to earlier in the day. He added that the oil release would begin next week and that deliveries would last about 120 days.
"President Trump promised to protect America's energy security through responsible management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and this action demonstrates his commitment to that promise," the Energy Secretary said.
The IEA announced that 32 member countries support this agreed step, which represents the sixth coordinated release of reserves since the agency's founding in the 1970s.
Since the start of the war, navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas is usually transported, has been difficult.
Iran on Wednesday said the world should be prepared for oil prices to hit $200 a barrel, as its forces continue to attack merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also reacted to oil prices: "The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, for me as president it is much more important and in my best interest to stop the evil empire, Iran, from getting nuclear weapons and destroying the Middle East, and in fact the entire world. That will never happen as long as I am president! Thank you for your attention." /Telegraph/
