Gate News Report, March 15 — The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a tender for the allocation of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the nation’s emergency oil stockpile. The first batch of 86 million barrels is expected to begin market release by the end of next week. According to the document, participating companies are required to return the borrowed crude oil to the Department of Energy and provide an additional amount of crude oil as a premium. The document states that this approach will both replenish the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and stabilize the market. The U.S. government also plans to add approximately 200 million barrels to the strategic reserve over the next year to maintain energy security. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that as of the 6th of this month, the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve stands at 415.4 million barrels.