US Department of Energy Announces Exchange of Up to 40 Million Barrels from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The US Department of Energy has opened an exchange for up to 40 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Its September 29 solicitation adds a possible source of oil later this year, but no barrels have been awarded under this offer. Proposals are due October 6 at 11 a.m. Central, with deliveries under awarded exchanges scheduled for November and December.

The offer falls within the previously announced 172-million-barrel US release commitment. That figure describes the existing program, not another 172 million barrels announced this week. The 40-million-barrel ceiling is the volume offered in this round, rather than oil already moving into the market.

The date gap matters as investors await the next inflation reading. The Bureau of Economic Analysis has scheduled its August personal income and outlays report for September 30 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. It includes the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index. Because the data cover August, they cannot reflect the September 29 reserve offer or late-September oil moves. Under DOE's announced timetable, the newly offered oil cannot reach buyers before the report either.

How the oil offer could affect Bitcoin

A supply announcement can change expectations before physical oil arrives. If the DOE offer changes oil-price expectations, the possible path to Bitcoin runs through inflation expectations, bond yields and the outlook for Federal Reserve rates. The available figures do not show that this particular announcement has already moved any of those markets or Bitcoin.

The inflation and rate backdrop predates the offer. In its August 26 release, BEA put July headline PCE inflation at 3.7% year over year and core inflation, excluding food and energy, at 3.3%. BEA has scheduled an annual update that could revise prior monthly estimates. The Federal Reserve raised its policy-rate range to 3.75%-4% on September 16, citing elevated inflation. A change in rate expectations after the August report would matter for assets exposed to financing conditions, but it would not mean the DOE notice altered August prices.

The Energy Information Administration's September outlook projected Brent crude near $90 a barrel in the second half of 2026 amid falling inventories and constraints on Middle East supply. Its forecast inputs were finalized September 3, before the reserve notice. The projection sets the oil backdrop; it does not estimate what this new offer will do to prices.