January 31, 2022 [CSP] – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved seven additional exchanges of 13.4 million barrels of crude oil for release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

These releases fall under the authorization published in the DOE announcement on Nov. 23, 2021, in response to high oil prices to help ensure adequate supply and to lower pump prices during the pandemic, President Biden said at the time.

The agency awarded exchange contracts to the following companies:

Shell Trading US Co. (4.2 million barrels)
Trafigura Trading LLC (3 million barrels)
Phillips 66 Co. (2.3 million barrels)
Macquarie Commodities Trading (2 million barrels)
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (0.885 million barrels)
ExxonMobil Oil Corp. (0.515 million barrels)
BP Products North America (0.5 million barrels)

Combined, DOE has provided nearly 40 million barrels of SPR crude oil to boost the nation’s fuel supply, including five previous exchanges. This is the second-largest crude oil exchange in U.S. history, with the first being the 2000 Heating Oil Exchange. As with all exchanges, companies that receive SPR crude oil through the exchange agree to return the amount of crude oil received, as well as an additional amount, dependent upon the length of time in which they hold the oil.

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