Oil's not well? US emergency stockpile falls to lowest level

More than four decades after it was first being filled, the US emergency oil stockpile has fallen to its lowest level. The Trump administration has continued drawing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ease the economic impact of the war with Iran, pushing the US emergency crude stockpile to its lowest level since 1983.According to a CNN report citing federal data released on Monday, US officials released another 8.9 million barrels from the emergency stockpile over the past week. As of June 12, 2026, the SPR held 340.3 million barrels of crude oil, slipping below the previous historic low recorded in July 2023 during President Joe Biden's administration following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The current level marks the smallest volume in the reserve since July 1983, when the Ronald Reagan administration was still building the stockpile for the first time and the US economy was significantly smaller.

Taping US emergency oil

The SPR has become a major instrument for Trump officials seeking to limit the impact of soaring energy prices on US consumers, businesses and the broader economy. Since the war with Iran began in late February, back-to-back global conflicts have reduced the reserve by 75 million barrels, equivalent to an 18% decline.At present, the emergency stockpile stands at a little less than half full."The Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases, combined with releases by other governments and China reducing its exports, have prevented the Armageddon scenario of $150 oil from happening to date," Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates told CNN.

"If we were to get a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico that shuts production down for several weeks, that buffer would no longer be there," Lipow said.Lipow also noted that SPR releases could slow once the Trump administration completes the release of the 172 million barrels it committed to deploy in March.The pace of the drawdown also reflects a U-turn in Trump’s policy stance. During his third presidential campaign in 2022, US President Donald Trump criticised Biden for using the reserve ahead of that year's midterm elections.

However, Trump officials are now releasing oil from the SPR at a faster rate ahead of this year's midterms.Industry officials have cautioned that the reserve could face operational constraints if the current trend continues."The SPR must be at least 20% full to be operational," warned Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Reserve, during an interview last week on CNN's The Lead. "We're raising alarm bells right now.""We're getting to levels where we are starting to be concerned," Sommers added.The report stated that the emergency oil released since the conflict with Iran began will need to be replenished over time. However, such replenishment is not expected before the peak of the hurricane season, leaving domestic energy supplies exposed to any immediate weather-related disruptions.