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Tuesday, May 30, 2023 | 
U.S. & World Business

Report: U.S. oil reserves are being exported overseas despite high fuel prices

Data from the oil industry reveals that over 5 million barrels from the U.S. oil reserve have been shipped internationally, according to a new report

By Ashley Nash
SHARE Report: U.S. oil reserves are being exported overseas despite high fuel prices
Crude oil pipes at the Bryan Mound site near Freeport, Texas.

Crude oil pipes at the Bryan Mound site near Freeport, Texas, are seen in this undated photo. Oil reserves were opened in March to curb rising gas prices. Now that oil is being sent to Europe and Asia.

Department of Energy via Associated Press

Using data and information from several industry sources, Reuters reported that over 5 million barrels of oil from U.S. emergency oil reserves were exported overseas last month.

The news: One shipment reportedly contained 470,000 barrels of oil, which was sent from a storage facility in Texas to Trieste, Italy. From there, pipelines distribute oil to other refineries in Europe, according to Insider.

  • Another industry insider reported, via Bloomberg, that oil was being transported from Nederland, Texas, to a major European port in Rotterdam.
  • Cargoes from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were also exported from the U.S. to India, China and the Netherlands, industry sources told Reuters.
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A look back: In March, President Joe Biden announced that 1 million barrels of oil per day would be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to soften the blow of rising gas prices, which were a result of sanctions against Russia, the Deseret News previously reported.

  • “Americans are feeling Putin’s gas price hike at the pump. That’s why today, I’m authorizing the release of 1 million barrels a day from our Strategic Petroleum reserve — and taking steps to lay a new foundation for lasting American energy independence through clean energy,”  Biden tweeted at the time.

  • The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an underground storage site along the Gulf Coast owned by the federal government.
  • The reserve holds a stockpile of petroleum to be used in the case of an emergency, per the Deseret News.

Details: Reuters says that the SPR is currently at its lowest inventory since 2004, with Gulf Coast oil refineries at 97.9% utilization — the highest they have been in three and a half years.