# Oil falls most in 2 years after oil stockpile release

> Brent and U.S. crude benchmarks each settled down about 13% in their biggest weekly falls in two years after President Biden announced a release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Brent futures were down 32 cents at $104.39 a barrel in early trade.

- Date: 2022-04-01 · published 2022-04-01T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: policy · region US · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/11045-oil-falls-most-in-2-years-after-oil-stockpile-release
- Commodities: [Crude Oil (WTI)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WTI.md), [Crude Oil (Brent)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BRENT.md)

## Why it matters

A large government stock release adds near-term supply to a tight market, which pressures crude and fuel prices lower. The size of the weekly drop shows how strongly the market reacted to the policy move.

## Read by commodity

- WTI: bearish ▼
- BRENT: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BRENT | 2022-04-01 | 5 | -13.5% | -3.3 | Brent's roughly 13% weekly fall, the largest in two years, is attributed directly to the US SPR release announcement, which adds emergency supply. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WTI | 2022-03-09 | [Oil prices fall most in 2 years as UAE supports output hike \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5776-oil-prices-fall-most-in-2-years-as-uae-supports-output-hike-reuters.md) | -22.0% | -17.5% |
| WTI | 2026-03-11 | [Oil prices fall as WSJ says IEA proposes largest oil stock release ever \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6632-oil-prices-fall-as-wsj-says-iea-proposes-largest-oil-stock-release-ever-reuters.md) | +14.9% | +14.3% |
| WTI | 2025-04-03 | [Oil dives more than 6%, steepest fall in 3 years on tariffs, OPEC+ supply boost \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6316-oil-dives-more-than-6-steepest-fall-in-3-years-on-tariffs-opec-supply-boost.md) | -13.1% | -16.5% |
| WTI | 2022-03-31 | [Oil Futures Fall 5% as Biden considers Huge SPR Release](https://feedsoft.ai/events/9140-oil-futures-fall-5-as-biden-considers-huge-spr-release.md) | -10.6% | -2.2% |
| WTI | 2022-04-06 | [Oil slumps to three-week low after Fed minutes, big IEA reserve release announcement \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/41761-oil-slumps-to-three-week-low-after-fed-minutes-big-iea-reserve-release.md) | -1.4% | +5.7% |
| BRENT | 2022-03-09 | [Oil prices fall most in 2 years as UAE supports output hike \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5776-oil-prices-fall-most-in-2-years-as-uae-supports-output-hike-reuters.md) | -21.5% | -18.3% |
| BRENT | 2026-03-11 | [Oil prices fall as WSJ says IEA proposes largest oil stock release ever \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6632-oil-prices-fall-as-wsj-says-iea-proposes-largest-oil-stock-release-ever-reuters.md) | +19.2% | +21.1% |
| BRENT | 2025-04-03 | [Oil dives more than 6%, steepest fall in 3 years on tariffs, OPEC+ supply boost \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6316-oil-dives-more-than-6-steepest-fall-in-3-years-on-tariffs-opec-supply-boost.md) | -12.8% | -18.2% |

## Sources

- reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-seesaws-ahead-consumer-nations-meeting-stocks-release-2022-04-01/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.