“Earlier today, 32 member nations of the International Energy agency unanimously agreed to President Trump’s request to lower energy prices with a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of refined products from their respective reserves,” Wright said in a news release. 

As part of the coordinated action, Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning next week. Wright said the U.S. release would take about four months to complete. 

The move comes as the war in Iran has halted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for oil exports from the Persian Gulf. 

Wright said the coordinated release is intended to help prevent spikes and reassure markets that sufficient supplies remain available even if shipping or production is disrupted by the conflict.  

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, created in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo, is the world’s largest emergency crude oil stockpile and is designed to provide a buffer against major supply shocks.

Wright said the administration plans to replenish the reserve in the coming year with more oil than will be released. He said under former President Joe Biden’s administration, oil reserves were “drained and damaged.” 

“The United States has arranged to more than replace these strategic reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year — 20% more barrels than will be drawn down — and at no cost to the taxpayer,” Wright said. 

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The announcement comes after Trump spoke at an event in Kentucky, where he discussed the IEA agreement. He linked the actions on oil to the overall war in Iran, saying the agreement “will substantially reduce the oil prices as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world.” 

Iran has made clear it would not sit idle in terms of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran calling any ships using the waterway “legitimate targets.”