US to lend 40m barrel oil from strategic reserve as Ukraine war strains supply

The move comes amid an energy crisis that has erupted due to the escalating Russia-Ukraine war, and America’s inconclusive conflict with Iran (Photo: Reuters). United States on Tuesday offered to loan energy companies 40 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, an attempt to control rising prices due to the Ukraine and Iran conflict.In March, the United States committed to lend 172 million barrels of oil from the SPR, forming part of a broader agreement among roughly 30 International Energy Agency member countries to release 400 million barrels in total.In June, the Trump administration offered to lend the final 40 million barrels under that IEA arrangement. Later that month, however, it disclosed that companies had agreed to borrow only around 500,000 barrels.The move comes amid an energy crisis that has erupted due to the escalating Russia-Ukraine war, and America’s inconclusive conflict with Iran.Ukraine has been increasingly targeting Russian energy facilities in order to curb the financial resources that sustain Russian war efforts.On Sunday night, it struck oil facilities in Russia’s Krasnodar region."We are consistently using our long-range capabilities t...