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The US Department of Energy said it had loaned 8.48 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to four companies, as part of a second round of releases aimed at easing fuel prices amid the Middle East conflict.The Department said the recipients were Gunvor USA, Phillips 66, Trafigura Trading and Macquarie Commodities Trading.The move follows an offer a day earlier to sell 30 million barrels of light, sweet crude from the West Hackberry site in Louisiana.The DOE said companies took about 45.2 million barrels in the first round last month, roughly 52% of the volumes offered, indicating weaker-than-expected demand.SPR releases are structured as exchange agreements, requiring companies to return the crude at a later date with additional barrels as a premium, a mechanism the Department said supports supply without cost to taxpayers.Washington had offered on April 1 to loan up to 10 million barrels in the second round, part of a broader plan to release as much as 172 million barrels through 2027.The United States is also acting in coordination with other members of the International Energy Agency, which have agreed to collectively release around 400 million barrels to stabilize markets following supply disruptions linked to the conflict.The SPR currently holds about 413.3 million barrels, its lowest level since the mid-1980s, equivalent to just over four days of global oil demand.
