A cargo of crude oil loaded from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is heading to Türkiye, the first shipment of U.S. emergency reserve oil to the Mediterranean country, ship tracking data showed.
The U.S. is in the process of releasing 172 million barrels from the SPR in a bid to combat spiking crude prices, as the war in Iran has upended global supplies, with the critical chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz, remaining largely closed.
The move is part of a coordinated effort by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release a record 400 million barrels of oil to quell rising prices.
Exports from the U.S., the world's largest producer, have touched record highs as supplies across Europe and Asia have tightened, sending prices higher.
Greek-flagged aframax North Star loaded around 680,000 barrels of sweet crude from the Bryan Mound strategic petroleum reserve site near Seaway, Texas City, in April and is set to arrive in Aliağa, Türkiye, in mid-May, Kpler data showed, citing a bill of lading.
And Hong Kong-flagged DHT Antelope loaded about 1.1 million barrels of Bryan Mound Sour crude oil at offshore Galveston through ship-to-ship transfer in late April, and is also due to unload in Türkiye at the end of the month, according to ship tracking data and a trader. The ship also carried another parcel of U.S. crude, Kpler data showed.
U.S. SPR cargoes have already headed to Italy and the Netherlands, according to ship tracking data.
US to loan 53.3 million barrels of oil
Separately, the Trump administration said on Monday it will loan energy companies 53.3 million barrels of crude from the SPR to calm oil markets.
Nine companies, including Exxon Mobil, Trafigura, and Marathon Petroleum Company, borrowed only about 58% of the 92.5 million barrels the Department of Energy last month had offered to loan from the SPR.
The DOE this spring had already loaned about 80 million barrels from the SPR.
Fatih Birol, the IEA's head, has said the war has created the biggest-ever energy crisis. If supply disruptions from the war continue, the IEA is ready to release additional oil from strategic reserves, he said on May 7. So far, member countries have released 20% of available reserves, Birol said.
Soaring fuel prices are a risk to President Donald Trump's fellow Republicans, who are campaigning to hold thin majorities in the U.S. Congress in the November midterm elections. U.S. gasoline prices hit an average of $4.52 a gallon as of Monday, the highest since 2022, according to AAA motor club data.
The DOE is loaning oil from the SPR to companies that will repay in crude, with premiums of up to 24%. The department says that the system will help stabilize markets at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.
The SPR, held in caverns at four sites on the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, currently holds about 384 million barrels, less than what the world uses in four days.