The U.S. Department of Energy has launched the tender for the first batch of 86 million barrels of crude oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which will be released to the market before the end of

PANews reported on March 15th that, according to Cailian Press, the U.S. Department of Energy has issued a tender for the release of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The first batch of 86 million barrels of crude oil is expected to be released to the market by the end of next week. According to the document, participating companies are required to return the borrowed crude oil to the U.S. Department of Energy and also return a certain amount of crude oil as a premium. The document states that this will both replenish the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and stabilize the market. The U.S. government also stated that it plans to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by approximately 200 million barrels over the next year to maintain U.S. energy security. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that as of March 6th, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve stood at 415.4 million barrels. (CLS)