US to release oil from strategic reserve, Trump says

President Trump plans to tap into the U.S’s oil stockpile, he said Wednesday, though additional details on the release, which comes amid high prices driven by the war in Iran, were not immediately clear.

Asked about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during a visit to Ohio, Trump told TV station Local 12, “I filled it up once, and I’ll fill it up again, but right now, we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down.”

His announcement comes hours after the International Energy Agency (IEA), of which the U.S. is a member, said that collectively, its members would release 400 million barrels of oil as part of an effort to bring down prices, the largest such release ever.

“I’m pleased to report that earlier today, the International Energy Agency agreed to coordinate the release of a record 400 million barrels of oil from various national petroleum reserves around the world,” Trump said at a rally in Kentucky.

Oil prices have risen as the war in Iran has closed off a key oil chokepoint known as the strait of Homruz nearby. 

The IEA announcement did not detail how much oil individual countries would contribute. 

Trump likewise did not appear to provide a specific quantity of barrels the U.S. would release or when the release would occur.

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