US sends tankers with oil from the strategic reserve to Europe

Europe is set to receive three shipments of US Strategic Reserve crude so far as the region debates how to cut its reliance on Russian crude in the wake of Putin's war with Ukraine, Report informs, citing Bloomberg.

Two tankers are en route to Italy and the Netherlands after loading supplies over the past two weeks from terminals linked to reserve storage caverns in Texas and Louisiana, according to people familiar with the matter and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Both cargoes were high-sulfur SPR oil, they said.

While the US and UK have announced embargos on Russian crude and refined products, the European Union has so far failed to agree to a ban as some members ask for exemptions. Nonetheless, with so many oil companies unwilling to handle Russian crude, Europe has been forced to look further afield to replace those lost volumes.

Prior to the two cargoes underway, another shipment of SPR crude left Texas and was delivered into the Netherlands around April 26, according to tracking data.

About 1.6m bbl of SPR crude was sent to Europe in April, said Matt Smith, oil analyst at commodity data firm Kpler. "That's the largest amount of SPR crude that's been shipped to the continent based on historical monthly data."