The White House announced on Tuesday a release of 50 million barrels from its reserves in coordination with the U.S., China, Japan, India, the U.K., and South Korea.
“A tiny headline build, an expected production rebound, and as the U.S.
Prior to the announcement, the alliance said a release is unjustified by current market conditions and it may have to reconsider plans to add more supply at a monthly meeting next week.
also confirmed Tuesday that its barrels — which make up the bulk of the release — will be mostly sour, or high in sulfur.
Of the 50 million barrels released by the U.S., 32 million will be issued from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as an exchange over the next several months, and the remaining 18 million will come from an accelerated release of previously authorized sales, the White House said in a statement Tuesday.
“By releasing reserves from the SPR, fundamentally you are just diminishing that cushion that you have in the event of a real crisis,” Neil Beveridge, senior analyst at Sanford C.
Energy Information Administration also showed inventories at the nation’s biggest storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose rose 787,000 barrels.