US will release 172 million barrels of oil from SPR

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

President Donald Trump has authorized the United States to release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning next week, the Energy Department said in a statement Wednesday. The move to release resources from the SPR represents a reversal from the first days of the war, when officials dismissed the prospect of tapping the reserve as unlikely and largely unnecessary.

Posted by REDIAL at 10:44 PM | 6 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

... o release 172 million barrels of oil ...

So, eight or nine days of oil that would have traversed the Strait of Hormuz.

That's good. (tactic)

But not a solution. (strategy)

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-03-11 11:12 PM

But not a solution. (strategy)

Well the solution was to purchase more oil for the SPR. But for some reason Democrats didn't want to do that, also Biden emptied it.

The Trump administration's plan to top off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve ran into a blockade Wednesday after lawmakers excluded $3 billion in funding for oil purchases from the massive stimulus package before Congress.
Senate Democrats took credit for stripping out that money from the Senate bill, unveiled Wednesday, calling it a "bailout" for the oil industry.
https://rollcall.com/2020/03/25/oil-purchase-to-fill-strategic-reserve-dropped-from-stimulus/

Was it really a bailout? Does it seem like bailout now??