|
In December 2009, America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve hit 727 million barrels. Full. Every salt cavern along the Gulf Coast, packed to the brim. That was the safety net — built after the 1973 oil crisis so no foreign power could ever hold America hostage at the pump again.
Today it’s at 374 million barrels. About half full. And it’s heading lower — fast.
Here’s how we got here. In 2022, the Biden administration released 180 million barrels to fight high gas prices after oil spiked above $120 a barrel. That took the reserve from 620 million down to about 347 million — the lowest since the 1980s. Some got refilled. Then in March of this year, the Trump administration ordered another 172 million barrels released to fight the oil shock from the Iran war. That release is happening right now, week by week, and it won’t be done until August.
Do the math. By late summer, the reserve will be somewhere around 243 million barrels. One-third of capacity. The lowest level since the reserve was still being filled for the first time in the early 1980s.
Now here’s what makes today interesting. Axios reported this afternoon that U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a 60-day deal to extend the ceasefire. If that holds — if the Strait of Hormuz reopens — oil prices come down and the pressure eases. But the White House hasn’t signed off yet. And the Strait still carries 20% of the world’s oil every single day. If those talks fall apart, Brent goes back above $100... and we’re fighting that fire with a reserve tank that’s two-thirds empty.
The DOE says the oil will be returned with an 18–24% premium by 2029. Maybe it will. But we said something similar in 2022, and four years later we’re drawing it down again before the last batch was fully replaced.
|
