Here's a fun thing about oil markets: sometimes the problem isn't that there's not enough oil. Sometimes the problem is that nobody can do anything useful with it. That's roughly where we are right now, according to GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, who says the President Donald Trump administration's plan to offer 40 million barrels of oil isn't exactly getting a stampede of interested companies. The reason? Global refining capacity, or the lack thereof.

The DOE's Offer, Explained

In an official statement on Tuesday, the Department of Energy issued a request for proposal, offering up to 40 million barrels of oil to companies. This is part of the 172-million-barrel release announced by Trump in March this year, which itself came alongside the International Energy Agency's (IEA) 400-million-barrel commitment.

"Deliveries under awarded exchanges are scheduled for November and December 2026," the statement said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the move would help "stabilize oil markets" and benefit people globally as gas prices continue to surge.

The mechanics are pretty simple: companies borrow the oil now, and give it back later with a little extra. "Participating companies will return the 40 million borrowed barrels with additional premium barrels, ensuring immediate market supply while increasing the SPR's long-term inventory," the DOE said.

For context, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that over 284 million barrels of oil remain in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as of September 18.

De Haan: Buyers Aren't Exactly Lining Up

Taking to the social media platform X on Tuesday, De Haan said that while the U.S. was offering barrels, "not many buyers" were looking to accept the offer. "June RFP [Request for Proposal] only saw about half a million bought," he said. De Haan added that oil was not "so much the challenge right now as global refining capacity."

In other words, you can put all the crude you want on the table. If the world's refineries can't turn it into gasoline and diesel fast enough, the barrels just sit there looking lonely.

Where Oil Prices Stand

At the time of writing this article, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures contracts expiring in November 2026 declined slightly to $89.30. Meanwhile, Brent futures contracts maturing in November also declined 0.34% to $95.83 at the time of writing this article.

On the other hand, the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) ETF was up 0.04% at $143.41 during overnight trading on Tuesday after declining 4.44% to $143.35 at market close. The ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (NYSE:UCO) ETF also gained 0.85% to $52.4 during overnight trading.

Data from the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed that the national average price of gas fell to $4.4558/gallon on Tuesday. Diesel also declined, with the national average price at $6.4391/gallon on Tuesday, compared to Monday's national average of $6.4531/gallon.