Key facts
- The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 283 million barrels of oil at the end of September, the lowest level since October 1982.
- The reserve's capacity is 713.5 million barrels.
- In 2022, 180 million barrels were sold from the SPR.
- In March, the U.S. committed 172 million barrels to an IEA-coordinated release.
- The current SPR releases are structured as loans with high interest premiums.
- The Energy Department's stated minimum to keep the system running is about 70 million barrels.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) held just 283 million barrels of oil at the end of September, its lowest level since October 1982, according to Reuters. This depletion is a result of significant drawdowns, including 180 million barrels sold in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a further coordinated release of 172 million barrels in March authorized by the International Energy Agency.
The reserve, created in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo, peaked at 726.6 million barrels in 2009. After the 2022 sales, the SPR never fully recovered, with only partial buybacks and canceled mandated sales contributing to a slight increase in stocks by the end of 2025 to 413.5 million barrels.
The current 172-million-barrel release is being managed as a series of exchanges, or loans, where companies borrow crude now and must repay it later with interest. Winning bidders have been required to return between 18% and 28% more oil than they borrowed, a premium attributed to market backwardation. However, the attractiveness of these deals has waned, with a significant portion of offered barrels going unawarded in recent exchanges.
Refilling the reserve is a slower process than emptying it, with design criteria allowing for a drawdown rate six times faster than the fill rate. Furthermore, aging infrastructure, including leaking pipes and wells at risk of losing structural integrity, complicates and slows the refilling process. The Energy Department states the caverns are always full, with brine replacing extracted oil, and the physical minimum to maintain operations is around 70 million barrels. However, experts and industry executives express concern about the practical floor, with many suggesting that inventories dropping below 250-300 million barrels could compromise cavern integrity.