WASHINGTON, March 21. /TASS/. The United States has allocated the first 42.5 mln barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserve to oil companies out of a planned total of 172 mln barrels, according to a statement posted on the US Department of Energy’s website.

The document states that the United States has begun the first phase of releasing 42.5 mln barrels of oil from its strategic reserve. Deliveries began on Friday.

The Department of Energy expects the companies that receive oil from the strategic reserve in the first stage to replenish it by a total of 55 mln barrels.

On March 12, the Department of Energy announced that the US administration would release a total of 172 mln barrels from the strategic national reserve over 120 days.