U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to release oil from the country’s strategic petroleum reserves in a bid to stabilise rapidly rising global energy prices.
Speaking to news station Local 12 on Wednesday, Trump said the move was aimed at easing pressure on fuel prices, adding that the reserves would be replenished after the market stabilises.
“We’ll release the reserves to bring prices down, and then we’ll refill them later,” he said.
Earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA) also announced that its member countries would collectively release a record volume of oil onto global markets to help address supply concerns.
According to the IEA, the 32 member countries, including the United States, plan to release a combined total of 400 million barrels of crude oil.
The U.S. Department of Energy said it would contribute 172 million barrels from its strategic petroleum reserve, with the release scheduled to begin next week and continue over approximately four months.
Officials noted that the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the world’s largest emergency stockpile of crude oil. The reserve was established to cushion the impact of supply disruptions and to help the country meet international energy security obligations.