US Strategic Petroleum Reserve falls to lowest level since 1983 as drawdowns accelerate

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has dropped to approximately 340.3 million barrels as of June 12, marking its lowest inventory since the summer of 1983. The last time America’s emergency oil cupboard was this bare, Reagan was in the White House and Return of the Jedi was still in theaters.

The decline represents a roughly 18% drop from levels seen just before tensions with Iran escalated in late February. Weekly drawdowns have been running at nearly 9 million barrels, part of a massive 172-million-barrel release authorized in March to keep domestic energy markets from spiraling.

How the reserve got here

When the Strait of Hormuz temporarily closed amid heightened US-Iran tensions, the Trump administration greenlit accelerated releases to offset the disruption and keep prices in check.

At 340.3 million barrels, the reserve now sits below the previous modern low of 346.7 to 346.8 million barrels, which was reached in July 2023 during the Biden administration’s own round of strategic releases.

Just one week earlier, on June 5, inventories were reported at 349.2 million barrels by the Energy Information Administration. That means roughly 9 million barrels vanished in a single week, consistent with the drawdown rate that’s been in effect.

The SPR has a maximum capacity of about 714 million barrels. Current levels represent less than half of what those salt caverns along the Gulf Coast can actually hold. The reserve has shed around 75 million barrels since the Iran conflict intensified, and the authorized release plan still has well over 90 million barrels left to go.

The geopolitical backdrop

A recent US-Iran deal has reportedly reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which could ease global oil supply pressures considerably. The strait is one of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints, with roughly a fifth of global petroleum consumption passing through it daily.

Refilling the SPR is expensive and slow. The Biden administration learned this after its own drawdowns, spending years trying to buy back barrels at favorable prices. At current levels, rebuilding the reserve to even pre-crisis levels would require purchasing tens of millions of barrels, which itself puts upward pressure on crude prices.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.