According to the White House's (WH) statement, the aim of the release is to lower prices for Americans and address supply-demand mismatch, and it will be taken in parallel with other major energy-consuming nations, namely China, India, Japan, Korea, and the UK.
The releases will be made by the U.S. Department of Energy in two ways:
1) 32 million barrels will be an exchange over the next several months, releasing oil that will eventually return to the reserve in the years ahead;
2) 18 million barrels will be an acceleration into the next several months of a sale of oil that Congress had previously authorized.