Coalition Report

Depleted strategic oil reserve nears level that raises concerns about damage to caverns, operations

The caverns that hold the U.S. strategic oil reserves could get damaged by the rapid release of stockpiles in response to the Iran war, experts warned this week as inventories hit a four-decade low.

Damage to the caverns would make it more difficult to respond to future energy emergencies, the experts said. The oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is stored at 60 salt caverns thousands of feet underground at four major sites along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas.

The SPR has tumbled below 300 million barrels for the first time since it was filled in the early 1980s, according to Department of Energy data released Monday. Inventories are depleting as the U.S. releases 172 million barrels in response to the supply disruption caused by the Iran war. The SPR will sit at around 243 million barrels after the drawdown is finished.

The Energy Department has said at least 70 million barrels must remain in the reserve to safely manage the caverns. Amos Hochstein, a senior energy advisor to President Joe Biden, disputed that figure this week.

“Don’t believe the people out of the government that are saying the SPR can go to 70 million barrels. It’s nonsense,” Hochstein told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday. At that level, the reserve would be depleted to “the point of never resurrecting it,” he said.

Depleting the reserve below 300 million barrels risks damage to the caverns, the former Biden administration official warned in June.

“I don’t know anyone who believes we can go below 300,” Hochstein told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan at an Atlantic Council event. “I know plenty of people who think we can’t get near 300 because physically you will damage the caverns where the oil is stored.”

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