Depleted US Strategic Petroleum Reserve Loses Its Buffer as Iran War Drags On

The United States may have less power to steady oil markets during the war with Iran because years of releases have sharply reduced its emergency reserve.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, created after the oil crises of the 1970s, stores crude in 60 underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. It now contains 289.7 million barrels, the lowest level since 1982. A further release of 39 million barrels under a March agreement with the International Energy Agency would reduce that figure to about 243 million.

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The core mission of the reserve is to supply the market rapidly during a crisis.

More than 30 countries agreed to release a record 400 million barrels after the United States and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28. The United States contributed 172 million barrels. The administration released that oil as a loan, with companies expected to repay it with interest through roughly 40 million additional barrels. Repayments will not begin until later this year and are not scheduled to finish until late 2028.

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But operating below 250 million barrels pushes the infrastructure into a dangerous zone.

The reserve’s physical minimum is 70 million barrels, according to a Department of Energy source. But Siddharth Misra, a petroleum engineering professor at Texas A&M University, said safe operations require a level closer to 250 million barrels. “The core mission of the reserve is to supply the market rapidly during a crisis,” he said. “But operating below 250 million barrels pushes the infrastructure into a dangerous zone.”

Oil floats on water inside the caverns, and the water level rises as crude is removed. That can damage cavern walls, pipes and the pumps used to extract the oil. Trump said the reserve would be refilled with Venezuelan crude, but it was unclear how quickly that could restore supplies or lower gasoline prices. Analyst Kevin Book said a full replenishment “could take years” and could be disrupted by elections in the United States and Venezuela.

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could take years