US to loan up to 10 million barrels of SPR oil from Bryan Mound site, Energy Department says

WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department said on Wednesday that it would loan up to 10 million barrels of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve site in Bryan Mound, and will accept proposals from companies until 11 am central time (1600 GMT) on April 6.

The United States is releasing oil from its strategic reserve as part of an agreement with 32 countries in the International Energy Agency to release 400 million barrels of oil from reserves to ease supply pressures due to the Iran war.

The U.S. Energy Department has already lent 45.2 million barrels of crude oil from the reserve in the first release under the agreement in March. Ultimately, the U.S. aims to lend 172 million barrels for delivery throughout this year and into next.

The oil is being be released in the form of loans that companies will return with extra barrels as a premium, a system that the Energy Department says will stabilize markets "at no cost to American taxpayers."