As oil prices continue to decline, nine companies have announced plans to rent space to store 23 million barrels of crude oil in the U.S. emergency oil reserve, according to Reuters.
Among these companies are Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Alon USA Inc.
In early April, the U.S. Department of Energy reportedly offered oil companies 30 million barrels of space in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Weeks later, companies had negotiated contracts for 23 million barrels.
The reserve has 77 million barrels of free space, according to Reuters.
