The Trump administration has initiated the process of releasing U.S. oil reserves.

PANews reported on March 14th that the Trump administration has initiated procedures to massively utilize the U.S. emergency petroleum reserves, issuing a request to exchange 86 million barrels of crude oil. The Department of Energy stated in a statement on Friday that, as part of the 172 million barrel release plan announced on Wednesday, oil drawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is expected to begin flowing into the market by the end of next week. This release of oil reserves is expected to take four months to complete and is part of a 400 million barrel action plan coordinated with other countries. Under the exchange terms, companies will return the loaned oil to the Department of Energy in the future, paying an additional amount as a premium. The Department of Energy stated earlier this week that the Trump administration has planned to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with approximately 200 million barrels of oil over the next year, 20% more than the reserves currently being used.