Oil stocks in US strategic petroleum reserve fall to lowest level since 1982

US crude held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve declined to 282.2 million barrels last week, the lowest reading since October 1982, according to Department of Energy data cited by Business Recorder. The reduction is part of an agreement under which the United States is releasing 172 million barrels from the reserve.

The US government said oil companies had agreed to borrow about 40 million barrels, described as the final portion of the US contribution to a wider arrangement intended to contain fuel costs. The report links the releases to the period after the United States and Israel began the war on Iran. For Pakistani market readers, the update concerns global oil supply and is relevant to oil and gas exploration and marketing sectors.