The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 357.1 million barrels in the week ended May 29. That is its lowest level since January 2024, according to the Energy Information Administration’s weekly Petroleum Status Report.
About 8 million barrels left the reserve that week. The week before, 9.1 million came out, and 9.9 million in the week ended May 15.
The same report showed total US crude inventories, commercial and government combined, at 709.8 million barrels. In early April they stood near 878 million.
What the reserve can actually do
Salt caverns along the Gulf Coast hold the oil. Washington built the system after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, and it can take in about 713.5 million barrels at most.
On paper, the Energy Department’s website says the reserve can release roughly 4.4 million barrels a day. Oil takes 13 days to reach the open market after the president orders a sale.
The paper figure may be generous. An Energy Department analysis prepared in 2016 said the real rate could be limited to between 1.4 million and 2.1 million barrels a day. The 2022 release that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine bears that out. ClearView Energy Partners, analyzing EIA data, found the flow never topped 1.1 million barrels a day.
