Trump’s Oil Reserve Release Is Reshaping the Futures Curve

As oil traders brace for a historic release from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the form of a loan, they’re dumping prompt barrels and snapping up cheaper supplies further out when borrowers will need to repay the government.

Countries around the world are planning releases from emergency reserves as the war in the Middle East chokes supply and sends energy prices soaring. The first batch of the US plan to release 172 million barrels, which is expected to take four months to complete, will be structured as an exchange — essentially a loan that companies must eventually return with interest.