The United States has released a large amount of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to counter supply instability triggered by the war with Iran, pushing stockpiles close to their lowest level since the 1980s.
CNN reported on the 1st, citing U.S. Department of Energy data, that Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories fell by 8 million barrels just last week. That is smaller than the prior week's drop of 9.1 million barrels, but follows the record decline of 9.9 million barrels in mid-May, indicating that large releases are continuing.
U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories now stand at 357.1 million barrels. That is the lowest level since Jan. 2024.
Javier Blas, an energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, said on X (formerly Twitter), "If releases continue at the current pace, levels will fall below the low set under the Biden administration in the latter half of next week." If that forecast holds, U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories would decline to the lowest level since 1983.
CNN noted that the Trump administration is drawing down reserves at a much faster pace than the Biden administration. Since the war with Iran began at the end of Feb., the U.S. government has supplied about 58 million barrels from the reserve to the market. That amounts to 14% of total stockpiles.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is considered the United States' "last safety net," used to stabilize the market when crude supplies are disrupted or during an energy crisis. The United States has maintained large reserves since the oil shocks of the 1970s to prepare for emergencies.
Earlier, the Biden administration also released a large amount from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2022 when international oil prices surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At that time, stockpiles fell to their lowest level since the 1980s.