US emergency oil stockpile tumbles to lowest since the Reagan administration
By Matt Egan, CNN
(CNN) — The amount of oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve plunged last week to the lowest level since 1983 as the Trump administration continues to deploy emergency oil to minimize the damage from the war with Iran.
According to federal data released Monday, US officials released another 8.9 million barrels from the SPR last week alone.
That leaves the US emergency oil reserve with 340.3 million barrels of crude, taking out the prior low set in July 2023 under President Joe Biden after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The last time the SPR had less oil than today was July 1983, when the Reagan administration was filling the reserve for the first time and when the United States had a smaller economy.
The SPR has emerged as a key tool Trump officials have used to mitigate the harm of high energy prices to consumers, businesses and the economy at large.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases, combined with releases by other governments and China reducing its exports, have prevented the Armageddon scenario of $150 oil from happening to date,” said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
Back-to-back wars have wiped out a large chunk from the SPR.
The SPR is down 75 million barrels, or 18%, since the war with Iran started in late February.
When he launched his third run for the White House in 2022, President Donald Trump blasted Biden for draining the SPR ahead of that year’s midterm. But now Trump officials are draining the SPR at an even faster pace ahead of this year’s midterms.
At current levels, the SPR is a little less than half full.
The SPR must be at least 20% full to be operational, warned Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Reserve, last week.
“We’re raising alarm bells right now,” Sommers told CNN’s Phil Mattingly on The Lead. “We’re getting to levels where we are starting to be concerned.”
Lipow said he thinks SPR releases may have to slow once the Trump administration is done releasing the 172 million barrels it pledged in March to release.
The emergency oil released since the war with Iran start will have to get replaced over time – but that replacement will not happen in time for the height of hurricane season.
“If we were to get a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico that shuts production down for several weeks, that buffer would no longer be there,” Lipow said.
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