Crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve have fallen below 300 million barrels, the lowest level since 1983, as the Iran war drags on.
In the past week, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve declined by 6.1 million barrels to 298.7 million barrels, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The reserve, which was created in 1975, is now at its lowest level since January 1983.
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the reserve as Iran continues to block oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz waterway.
The drawdown in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, whose storage capacity is 714 million barrels of oil, has raised concerns about whether U.S. stockpile is on the verge of depletion.
The minimum amount of oil needed to continue operating the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is 70 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is expected to fall to around 243 million barrels of crude oil by summer’s end.
However, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s operational capability is also reported to be at risk due to aging infrastructure.
The Government Accountability Office has said that more than a quarter of its inventory is “not available for drawdown due to a combination of construction outages and cavern outages.”
That implies that about 103 million barrels of crude oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not available for use, according to a July analysis by Rapidan Energy.
U.S. presidents have ordered massive releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in recent years.
President Joe Biden deployed 180 million barrels from the reserve to address energy market volatility after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. That was the largest release in U.S. history.
