On August 13, according to Xinhua News Agency, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell to 298.7 million barrels in the week ending on August 7, the lowest level since January 1983.
Data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that oil in strategic reserves has decreased continuously for 20 weeks since the end of March.
During this period, the total amount of crude oil withdrawn from stockpiles reached about 116.7 million barrels, according to the latest weekly Oil and Gas Information (EIA) report.
Oil reserves are forecast to continue to decrease if the US fully implements its plan to discharge more oil from stockpiles. According to Xinhua, in the event that this plan is fully implemented, the remaining oil in the SPR could be reduced to about 243.4 million barrels.
In March, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that US President Donald Trump had allowed the US Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels of oil from the reserves in about 120 days.
SPR was established by the US in December 1975, after the oil embargo of Arab countries, to increase Washington's ability to respond to supply shocks and emergencies in the oil market.
This reserve has a maximum capacity of about 727 million barrels. Statistics show that oil in SPR exceeded 726 million barrels in the period from December 2009 to July 2011.
The fact that oil in stocks has now fallen below 300 million barrels shows that the scale of reserves has narrowed significantly compared to the maximum level in previous years.
According to Xinhua, US strategic oil reserves have decreased sharply in recent years after supply disruptions related to the conflict in Ukraine in 2022.
SPR plays the role of a US emergency reserve in case of serious disruptions to oil supplies. Unlike commercial oil depots serving normal business operations, SPR is maintained by the US government to respond to situations that may affect the country's energy supply.
