Crude oil stockpiled in the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve is currently below 300 million barrels, a level not seen in over forty years, following the release of oil in response to the war in Iran.
On Monday, the Department of Energy released data about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It found that the reserve’s future is at risk, both due to aging infrastructure, now over 40 years old, and an unstable global energy situation.
F-15EX Eagle II. Artist Rendition. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
A formation of four U.S. Air Force F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets, assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, fly over the Gulf of America, Nov. 21, 2025. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink flew in the backseat of the lead jet as part of his visit to Eglin AFB. The flight oriented Meink to F-15EX tactics, techniques and procedures being developed and advanced by the 53d Wing to include weapons capacity, next-gen survivability, and next-generation radars, sensors and networking capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Blake Wiles)
As the name implies, it’s a strategic reserve — and has been tapped several times before in response to various wars, natural disasters, and energy crises throughout the decades, helping both the United States and other countries in weathering geopolitical storms.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in 1975 after the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo. That embargo by oil-producing majority-Arab nations revealed just how vulnerable the United States was to a sudden cutoff of imported oil.
In response, Congress authorized the stockpiling of up to one billion barrels of oil under the auspices of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
The oil is stored in a series of massive underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast, and is easily accessible to America’s major oil refining companies and their infrastructure.
For most of its history, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was, in essence, a kind of insurance policy rather than something the government routinely tapped.
The first genuine emergency drawdown of the SPR occurred during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when the United States sold 17.3 million barrels as part of an international effort to stave off the disruption of oil supplies from Iraq and Kuwait and an anticipated spike in prices.
It was tapped again following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when production and refining were severely disrupted — roughly 20.8 million barrels were sold or given on loan to refiners.
Again in 2011, the United States released 30.6 million barrels in coordination with the International Energy Agency after the Libyan civil war disrupted global oil supplies.
But the biggest tapping of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve came in 2022, in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During that release, the Biden administration announced a 180-million-barrel release in coordination with other IEA members to soften the effects of disruptions in oil availability and cool global oil prices.
That drawdown left the reserve at low levels not witnessed in decades.
Fast-forward to 2026, and the situation is decidedly more serious.
The war with Iran and the disruption surrounding the Strait of Hormuz have created a longer, more significant oil-supply shock, and the United States has committed to releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in tandem with other countries.
By the middle of last month, the reserve had dipped down to around 311 million barrels of oil. As a point of reference, the SPR’s authorized capacity is 714 million barrels.
Risks Abound with Iran
An audit by the Government Accountability Office, a federal oversight body, found that the SPR may struggle to address future challenges.
A May report stated that the Department of Energy successfully completed “some life extension work.” But the picture painted by the GAO is far from rosy.
In short, repairs are not keeping pace with what is required to keep the SPR optimally functioning. As a result, there is a “growing backlog and looming operational limitations.” Furthermore, the Department of Energy has “identified concerns that significant remaining issues with aging SPR infrastructure will increasingly limit the SPR’s capability to meet fill or drawdown directives.” The report concludes that the SPR’s “operational capability is at risk.”
Potential Future Problems with Iran
The Department of Energy lauded the previous releases and mentioned the large release executed during the Biden administration.
It did note, however, that meeting that challenge was particularly challenging. Emergency repairs were necessary and successful, but future releases at comparable speed and volume could present similar risks.
Data compiled by Bank of America and reported by The Hill shows that current stocks in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve stand at about 43 days. Speaking to reporters in June, American President Donald Trump struck an ominous note.
“We run out of reserves in about four weeks,” the president said. “We would really run out, and there’ll be a time when you wouldn’t be able to get it. And do you want to see bedlam?”
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines in the Donbas and writing on its civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
