The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is under strain as massive stockpile releases in response to wars in the Middle East and Europe have stressed old infrastructure in need of repair:
This week, the SPR fell to its lowest level since March 1983 after the U.S. withdrew 352 million barrels of crude oil over the last four years to ease supply disruptions triggered by its war with Iran and Russia's invasion of Ukraine:
Federal auditors have found that the SPR's ability to respond to future emergencies is at risk. A May report quoted Department of Energy officials telling auditors that the reserve's web of pipelines, caverns, and storage tanks is held together "with 'Band-Aids,' and that it is uncertain how long they will hold:
"The SPR’s drawdown, distribution, and fill capabilities are currently limited and are at risk going forward due to longstanding issues with aging infrastructure," the Government Accountability Office warned in the report:
The Energy Department is implementing a $1.4 billion plan to repair the SPR but had to narrow the scope of the project to stay within budget:
President Donald Trump in March ordered the release of 172 million barrels from the SPR as Iran choked off oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, triggering the largest supply disruption in history:
Federal auditors found that more than a quarter of the SPR "was not available for drawdown due to a combination of construction outages and cavern outages":
This implies that a minimum of 103 million barrels in the SPR today are not deployable:
The SPR has enough inventory left right now to address another crisis, but officials warn that the state of the infrastructure may jeopardize future drawdowns of similar speed and scale:
