US President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to announce a release of crude oil reserves from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) alongside several other countries as soon as Tuesday, said a Bloomberg reporter on Monday according to Reuters. 

The countries likely to release crude oil reserves alongside the US include China, India, South Korea and Japan, with the latter four all major importers of energy. 

The report follows earlier reports suggesting that OPEC+ might be willing to adjust their own output policy if the US and other nations release oil reserves. In other words, they may delay planned output hikes, which will reduce any bearish impact a sychronised global oil reserve release will have on prices. 

Market Reaction

Front-month WTI futures have been choppy in recent trade, swinging between the $75.00 per barrel and $77.00 levels amid the conflicting headlines.