The U.S. Department of Energy said on Thursday it has awarded contracts for 30 million barrels of crude oil put up for sale from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in response to price hikes caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“As a next step toward releasing one million barrels per day for the next six months, DOE plans to issue a third Notice of Sale on May 24, 2022 for an additional 40 million barrels and for delivery starting in June, and further details will be posted at that time,” the department said in a statement.

The Energy Department had issued a second notice of sale for 30 million barrels of SPR crude oil earlier in April. Sixteen companies submitted a total of 126 bids for evaluation.

Contracts were awarded to 12 companies. They included 6.85 million barrels to Valero Marketing and Supply Company VLO.N, 4.05 million barrels to Motiva Enterprises MOTIV.UL, 3.6 million barrels to Exxon Mobil XOM.N, 2.75 million barrels to ShellSHEL.L, 2.6 million barrels to Glencore Ltd, 2.4 million barrels to Marathon PetroleumMPC.N and 2.5 million barrels to Phillips 66PSX.N.

Combined with already-scheduled releases, these contracts mean that the SPR is now scheduled to deliver 50 million barrels of oil in May and June, the department said, adding it plans to issue a third notice of sale on May 24 for an additional 40 million barrels and for delivery starting in June.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington Editing by Paul Simao)