Here's why tapping the US oil reserve has led to America increasing crude exports - and why even more US energy supplies could be shipped overseas

The US has sent more crude to other countries since President Joe Biden announced the release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.

The US's supply is expected to hit 13 million barrels per day this summer for the first time in over a year. The US is limited in how much oil it can process. Because of earlier shutdowns and limited investment, refinery capacity has shrunk and they have been running at full tilt to meet high demand for gasoline and other fuels.

The result of federal intervention is that more barrels are being sold to international buyers.

US oil exports from the Gulf Coast are expected to hit an all-time high of 3.3 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2022.

Gulf Coast exports are expected to top 4 million barrels per day by the second quarter of 2023 due to robust domestic supply growth and strong strategic petroleum reserve drawdowns.

Rystad Energy Research

It's no surprise that government intervention to support crude supplies has resulted in an increase in exports of domestically produced light barrels.

The US exported 5 million barrels of oil to Asia and Europe in the month of June.

As US oil companies prioritize returning capital to shareholders over expanding production faster, the releases from the Strategic petroleum reserve come as a surprise. The Energy Department said on Friday that US crude oil production fell in April to the lowest level in four months.

The total US output has fallen below its all-time high of 12.3 million barrels per day because of the decline in production in the Dakotas. Consumers can still benefit from the extra supplies from the US reserve even if they are in another country.

The US is able to support global markets in the midst of the most challenging energy crisis in 30 years.

In the last few weeks, oil and gasoline prices have come down, though fears of a recession have also hit expectations for future demand.

Matt Smith, lead oil analyst for the Americas at Kpler, told Insider that it doesn't matter if oil is used domestically or exported. The international benchmark for oil prices could be helped if oil supplies go abroad.

The goal was to keep the price down. Smith said that the barrels leaving the US were meant to backfill Russian crude. If the price of crude goes down, that could have a bigger impact on the price of oil.