US energy chief tells CNBC a further SPR oil release is unlikely

WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The United States is "highly unlikely" to release more oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to calm energy markets during the war with Iran, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Monday.

The U.S. was looking at a variety of other levers to try to bring down prices, he said. Those include helping refineries become more efficient and bring more diesel fuel to market.

"Of course there could be (a new release), I think that's highly unlikely," Wright told CNBC in an interview in Houston.

The U.S. earlier this month announced 172 million barrels will be exchanged from the reserve in batches, a move that was part of larger coordinated release with 32 International Energy Agency countries.

The Energy Department said late on Friday it loaned 45.2 million barrels from the SPR to energy companies, or a little more than half of the 86 million it had offered, in the first batch.

The SPR loans come with stiff premiums of about 20% that the companies have to repay in additional barrels of oil back to the reserve. The swaps will mean that the SPR has more oil in it by the end of next year than the roughly 415 million barrel level it has today, Wright said.