NEW YORK, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States announced on Wednesday that it will release 172 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

"Earlier today, 32 member nations of the International Energy Agency unanimously agreed to President Trump's request to lower energy prices with a coordinated release of 400 million barrels of oil and refined products from their respective reserves," U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement.

"As part of this effort, President Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, beginning next week," Wright said. "This will take approximately 120 days to deliver based on planned discharge rates."

The United States has arranged to replace these strategic reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year, Wright added. ■