The United States may announce today a loan of its emergency crude oil reserves as part of a deal with major Asian energy consumers.

The so-called "swap" of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)" is to be announced in a coordinated action among several countries.

The move is aimed at reducing energy prices, following OPEC+'s rejection of repeated requests by the US government and other consuming nations for them to unlock oil and meet growing demand.

However, it is not yet known what amount will be released by the US. Nevertheless, analysts estimate that a combined release of oil from the United States and other countries could be "on the order of 100-120 million barrels or more."

US President Joe Biden is dealing with low approval ratings due to high prices for gasoline and other consumer items in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. This poses a threat to himself and his party ahead of next year's legislative elections.

These efforts by the US to unite the major Asian economies in order to change the direction of the crude oil price chart are also ways of alerting the major producers to release more oil and take on concerns about high fuel prices in the major economies.

OPEC+, which brings together the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, including Russia, plans to meet on December 2 to discuss production policy.

The current high prices were not caused by an interruption in supply, but rather by a recovery in overall energy demand from the lows that occurred during the blockades in the early days of the coronavirus crisis.

OPEC+ has been adding about 400,000 barrels per day to the market each month to meet growing demand, but has resisted Biden's calls for faster increases, arguing that demand recovery may be fragile.