The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 284.6 million barrels in the week ending September 18, 2026, according to an Atlantic Council issue brief. That is the lowest level since November 1982, when the stockpile was being filled for the first time.
The slide has a start date. On February 28, 2026, military action involving the United States, Israel and Iran shut down most tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil. Brent crude opened the year near $61 a barrel, went past $100 on March 12 and closed the quarter at $118.
A release by exchange
Thirty-two member nations of the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil and refined products, the largest joint stock release the agency has authorized. The United States committed 172 million barrels. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Washington released 180 million.
This time the Department of Energy is handling the full commitment as exchanges instead of a sale. Companies borrow crude and must give it back, with a premium. The first solicitation, published March 13, covered up to 86 million barrels for delivery in April and May, and winning bidders owed between 18 and 22 percent more oil than they took. In 2021 the premium was 3 to 8 percent. Later rounds went as high as 28 percent. The first 45.2 million barrels were awarded and shipments began on March 20.
Tank Transport, a fuel-logistics publication, tracked the pace through the summer using Energy Department data reported by Reuters. The reserve fell 5.5 million barrels in the week ending June 26, then 6.2 million, then another 5.1 million in the week ending July 17, when it stood at 311.4 million barrels. Reuters reported that about 104.04 million barrels had left since the conflict began at the end of February.
Why the number matters to refiners
The reserve holds crude, not gasoline or diesel, so a low reading does not mean empty pumps. The link runs through refineries. Tank Transport noted that U.S. refineries were running at about 96.1% utilization for the week ending July 17, which leaves little spare capacity to absorb an outage. Retail prices were already climbing: regular gasoline averaged $4.001 per gallon on July 20, 88 cents above a year earlier, and on-highway diesel reached $5.134.
Under federal law, limited drawdowns ordered by the energy secretary cannot take the reserve below an aggregate of 252.4 million barrels. A full presidential emergency drawdown is governed separately. Department of Energy materials describe a maximum nominal rate of about 4.4 million barrels per day.
Refilling is slower
The Energy Department estimates it would cost approximately $20 billion to buy the roughly 250 million barrels needed to refill the reserve to 680 million, at prices near $80 a barrel. Congress appropriated $171 million for direct purchases in the 2025 reconciliation law, enough for roughly 2 million barrels.
The physical limits are tighter still. The reserve is designed to draw down at 4.415 million barrels a day but fill at only 0.785 million. The Government Accountability Office found in December 2025 that effective drawdown capability stood at 61 percent of design and fill capability at 56 percent, partly because the Big Hill site had no drawdown or fill capability during construction. The Atlantic Council calculates that returning the 133 million barrels due from exchanges will take a minimum of 198 days.
Engineers disagree on the risk of going lower. Some have warned publicly that further declines could damage the salt caverns that hold the oil. Others say a lower level is not a problem.
Sources
- Strategic Petroleum Reserve: 7 Critical Facts at 1983 Low
- The risks of the strategic petroleum reserve’s four-decade low
- America's Empty Barrel: Strategic Petroleum Reserve Hits 43 Year Low Amid Iran War – BRICS Chain
