The U.S. Department of Energy announced on September 29 that it has launched a tender for the exchange of up to 40 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, continuing to implement the previously pledged release plan of 172 million barrels.

Companies that win the bid will first receive crude oil, and later return the borrowed volume plus an additional amount of crude oil; this round of deliveries is scheduled for November and December 2026.

Bidding closes on October 6, with crude coming from two reserve sites. The deadline for bids in this tender is 11 a.m. U.S. Central Time on October 6, which is midnight Beijing time on October 7. The crude to be supplied comes from the Big Hill and Bryan Mound strategic reserve sites in Texas. The 40 million barrels is the upper limit for this tender, and deliveries will proceed according to subsequent award results. The Department of Energy said that the previous five tenders, through four completed exchange arrangements, had awarded a cumulative total of more than 133 million barrels of crude oil. Both sites store crude oil in underground salt caverns and are connected to the commercial transportation network along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Once the reserve crude is withdrawn, it can be transported by pipeline to terminals and refineries, supplementing commercial supply.

Companies borrow first and repay later, compensating the reserve call with additional crude. The exchange mechanism requires companies, after receiving reserve crude, to return it as agreed and to return an additional amount of crude oil as compensation. Its purpose is to put inventory into the market in advance, ease short-term supply pressure, and then replenish the reserve through later returns. The Department of Energy said the additional return ratio obtained under previous exchange arrangements reached 25%. That figure reflects the results of prior arrangements, while this latest announcement only specifies that companies must return additional crude oil, with the specific obligation determined by the exchange terms. The U.S. Department of Energy had already launched a tender of the same scale, up to 40 million barrels, on June 10, also supplying oil from Big Hill and Bryan Mound. This renewed tender continues the path of implementing the reserve release through corporate borrowing and later repayment.

Continuing to implement the joint global release, the U.S. urges Europe to fulfill its commitments. The U.S. pledge to release 172 million barrels is part of the 400 million barrels of emergency oil reserves jointly used by International Energy Agency member countries, accounting for about 43% of the total. On March 11 this year, the 32 member states of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed to take this action in response to oil supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict. This was the largest joint reserve release since the agency's founding and its sixth coordinated use of emergency stocks in history. Countries arrange the timing of releases according to their own circumstances and may supplement them with other emergency measures. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in the announcement for this tender that the United States and Japan are implementing their commitments, but some European member states have released only a small portion of the crude oil and refined products they previously pledged. He urged all member states to fulfill their commitments and continue to stabilize supply through coordinated action.