U.S. SPR Depletion Threatens Further Oil Price Volatility
Crude oil prices are on their way up again, driven by the latest flare-up of hostilities in the Persian Gulf—but they are also up because U.S. crude inventories are down again, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is moving closer to critical levels. The importance of oil inventories came to the fore
Source: OilPrice.com
―
DW NOTE
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve held 727 million barrels in 2010 and 350 million barrels when Biden took office. After the 2022 releases it now holds 310 million barrels — enough for seventeen days at current consumption. With Hormuz still closed and global output 10.1 million bpd below normal, the SPR cannot buffer another shock without ceasing to exist as strategic infrastructure.