Trump Reportedly Says US Will Tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve To Ease Oil Prices Under Pressure Amid Iran War

Bloomberg reported that U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday to a local television station in Cincinnati that he will “reduce it a little bit” for now to bring down oil prices and then fill it up again.

• The comments from Trump come as the International Energy Agency said earlier in the day that it would discharge 400 million barrels of oil from its emergency stockpile amid the growing energy crisis.
• The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency crude oil stockpile that helps lessen the impact of petroleum supply disruptions and meet U.S. international energy commitments. 
• As per the U.S. Department of Energy’s website, the country has 414.5 million barrels in reserve as of March 6.

U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly said on Wednesday that the country will tap its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help curb the rise in oil prices due to the war in Iran.

“We’ll do that — and then we’ll fit it up,” Trump said on Wednesday to a local television station in Cincinnati, according to a Bloomberg report.

“I filled it up once, and I’ll fill it up again. Right now we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down,” he said.

The comments from Trump come as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said earlier in the day that it would discharge 400 million barrels of oil from its emergency stockpile amid the growing energy crisis.

Meanwhile, oil prices in the U.S. have soared, with crude oil reaching almost $120 a barrel earlier this week. At the time of writing, WTI crude was nearly 6% higher at $88.41 per barrel. Meanwhile, ICE Brent crude was trading around $92.91 per barrel.

Strategic Reserve

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency crude oil stockpile that helps lessen the impact of petroleum supply disruptions and meet U.S. international energy commitments. U.S. presidents can authorize the sale of SPR oil, when deemed a necessity.

The federally-owned oil is stored in vast underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast, with a capacity of 714 million barrels, serving as a deterrent to supply cutoffs and a foreign policy tool. As per the U.S. Department of Energy’s website, the country has 414.5 million barrels in reserve as of March 6.

Historically, emergency releases from the SPR have been authorized on four occasions, with the latest one being in 2022 amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

Market Reactions

Global oil prices have been at their highest levels in about three years as of As of March 2026 after the Strait of Hormuz blockade amid the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

The United States Oil Fund (USO), which tracks WTI crude oil, has climbed nearly 37% in the past month. It gained about 2% at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities were in red in Wednesday’s after-hours trading. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down by 0.11%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) declined 0.09%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fell 0.05%.

Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bearish’ territory, while that of USO was in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory.

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