The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a federally owned emergency crude oil stockpile stored in underground Gulf Coast salt caverns, created in 1975. It peaked…
After the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo caused gasoline lines and price surges, President Gerald Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act on 22 December 1975, creat…
On 21 July 1977, about 412,000 barrels of Saudi Arabian light crude became the reserve's first delivery, following the acquisition of salt-cavern sites and construction…
Following a post-9/11 directive to fill the reserve toward capacity, year-end EIA data show the SPR reached 726.6 million barrels in 2009 -- its highest recorded level,…
Starting in fiscal 2017, Congress mandated a series of non-emergency SPR sales for budget and modernisation priorities -- years before the 2022 emergency release, meanin…
On 31 March 2022, President Biden ordered the release of up to 1 million barrels a day for six months -- 180 million barrels total, the largest emergency SPR drawdown ev…
Year-end inventory fell to 354.7 million barrels, a multi-decade low at the time. DOE began targeting direct purchases when crude traded at $79 a barrel or below, launch…
DOE reported directly purchasing about 59 million barrels at under $76 average and securing roughly 140 million more by cancelling future mandated sales -- together desc…
On 28 February 2026, Israel and the United States struck Iran's nuclear and missile programmes. Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz from 4 March, disrupting r…
On 11 March 2026, the IEA's 32 member nations unanimously agreed to a 400-million-barrel coordinated release. President Trump authorised DOE to release 172 million barre…
By the week ending 4 September 2026, EIA reported SPR inventory of 285.4 million barrels -- the lowest level since November 1982 -- down nearly 30% from about 405 millio…
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