The US Department of Energy has begun transferring 53.3 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (an emergency stockpile maintained for times of supply disruption), awarding contracts to nine companies including Trafigura, ExxonMobil, and Marathon Petroleum under an exchange programme that requires recipients to return the oil at a later date. The release is part of a broader 172-million-barrel commitment made in March under a coordinated International Energy Agency initiative described as the largest drawdown of global stockpiles in history. Oil prices have climbed sharply since the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran in late February, with Tehran's subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — a critical chokepoint handling roughly one-fifth of global oil trade — pushing Brent crude above $105 a barrel.