US Strategic Petroleum Reserve at Lowest Level

Washington, SANA- The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) data showed that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve of the country, which is the stockpile of crude oil maintained by the government, intended for emergency use only, has dipped to its lowest levels since 1985.

The figures indicated that the SPR had been reduced by 5.4, 9.4, and 13.4 million barrels of oil (bbl) in January, February, and March, and 18.4, 24.1, and 25.2 million bbl in April, May, and June, respectively. The data also shows that inevitably the petroleum reserve by June 24 of the current year has a total of about 497.9 million barrels of oil (bbl), 234.43 million bbl of sweet, and 263.5 million bbl sour.

The latest time the Strategic Petroleum Reserve reached its lowest level below 500 million barrels was in 1985, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration records. The U.S. is estimated to consume approximately 19.78 million barrels of petroleum per day, which leads to the conclusion that the country has enough oil to last 25.17 days if all petroleum production and imports were banned.

The U.S. administration is allowed to release the most significant oil storage reserves from facilities in Texas and Louisiana from the SPR should a “severe energy supply interruption” threaten the U.S. economy or national security.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to fill the reserve to the top in the spring of 2020 during the decrease in petroleum prices. Finally, the reserve only increased by roughly four million barrels, from an average of 634.9 million bbl in 2019 to 638 million bbl in 2020.

By the end of the year, the U.S. administration released 50 million bbl amid to relief the rising prices, leading the drop of SPR to 593.6 million bbl. By January, current President Biden released 13 million bbl from the reserve. The release of 1 million bbl per day for six months was approved in March in light of the energy emergency.

Amer Dawa