Home › Strategic Petroleum Reserve

U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Current Level and History

Week ending October 9, 2026 · Updated October 15, 2026

The SPR is the federal government's emergency crude oil stockpile: it is not U.S. proved oil reserves in the ground, and it is not the commercial crude inventory that refiners hold.

Energy Factbook 2:58

Video explainer

The SPR, explained in 3 minutes

What it stores, why its level fell, and what refilling it would take.

Video · 2:58 · Figures as of the week ending September 18, 2026. The numbers on this page update weekly.

Watch on YouTube

Read the transcript

In September 2026, America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, fell to its lowest level since 1982. So is the country running out of oil? No, not close.

The SPR is crude oil stored in giant salt caverns at four sites in Texas and Louisiana. This isn't oil sitting in oil fields, it's oil already pumped and stored for emergencies.

And it isn't the country's everyday supply. In 2025, the United States produced about 13 and a half million barrels of crude a day, more than any other country. The SPR is a backup on top of that.

Congress created the SPR in 1975, after the Arab oil embargo. It started filling in 1977, and filling it took more than 30 years.

Along the way, you might expect emergencies like wars and hurricanes to have made a big dent in it. They didn't. During the 1991 Gulf War, the government sold about 17 million barrels. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, about 11 million. Each was only a few percent of the reserve. By the end of 2009, the SPR was full with more than 700 million barrels, and it stayed close to full through 2016.

Then, starting in 2017, three things pulled the level down. First, sales that Congress required or approved in budget and spending laws, about 140 million barrels between 2017 and 2023. Second, in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, sanctions cut into Russian oil supplies, and oil prices jumped above $100 a barrel. President Biden authorized an emergency sale, and 180 million barrels were sold. Third, in 2026. With oil through the Strait of Hormuz disrupted, President Trump authorized a release of 172 million barrels. By September, the reserve was down about 130 million barrels.

That left the SPR in the week ending September 18th, 2026, at about 285 million barrels, only 40% of its authorized capacity.

But that 2026 oil wasn't sold, it was loaned. Companies must return it, plus extra barrels. So part of the drop is coming back.

The rest would have to be bought. Filling all of the empty space would have cost about $36 billion at August 2026 prices. Since 2025, Congress has provided about $170 million for oil purchases.

The weekly level and the full release history are at energyfactbook.com.

Why is the SPR at its lowest level since 1982?

On March 11, 2026, President Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels from the reserve over approximately 120 days. It was the U.S. share of a 400-million-barrel collective action by IEA member countries during the disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the sixth and largest such action in the agency's history, after 1991, 2005, 2011, and twice in 2022. DOE is executing the program as emergency exchanges: companies borrow SPR crude now and are required to return the barrels later, plus additional premium barrels, under DOE's exchange authority.

EIA's weekly series shows the measured result: the reserve held 415.4 million barrels in the week ending February 27, 2026 and 283.0 million in the week ending October 9, 2026, a decline of 132.5 million barrels. The announced volume and the measured decline are different figures from different sources; exchanges, deliveries and returns do not map one-to-one onto weekly inventory changes.

The reserve entered 2026 well below its 726.6-million-barrel peak. DOE's release history records the two largest earlier reductions: the 180-million-barrel emergency release of 2022 and the congressionally mandated and modernization sales that ran from fiscal year 2017 through 2023.

2026 developments

• August 30, 2026: In a Truth Social post two days after announcing an oil agreement with Venezuela, President Trump said Venezuelan oil would be used to refill the reserve, with the process to begin shortly. (as reported by UPI)
• August 26, 2026: EIA weekly data for the week ending August 21, 2026 put the reserve at 289.7 million barrels, its lowest level since November 1982. (EIA)
• March 11, 2026: DOE announced a presidentially authorized release of 172 million barrels over approximately 120 days, the U.S. share of a 400-million-barrel action coordinated with IEA member countries. (DOE)

Full history since 1982

The reserve was authorized in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo and began filling in 1977. It peaked at 726.6 million barrels in the week ending January 1, 2010, and DOE's Quick Facts page records that it reached full authorized capacity on December 27, 2009. Today's 283.0 million barrels is the lowest level since October 15, 1982, when the stockpile was on its way up during the initial fill. Reasons for individual drawdowns are documented in DOE's release history; this page reports the inventory record and does not attribute causes to it.

Major documented releases

Numbered rows correspond to the shaded bands on the chart. DOE's release history also documents exchanges from 1996 to 2025 (hurricane responses and pipeline disruptions) that are too small to shade at this scale. The 2026 row shows DOE's announced window and authorized volume, not a delivery record; the weekly EIA series above carries the measured inventory.

What is stored, and where

The oil sits in deep underground salt caverns at four Gulf Coast sites, split between sweet (lower sulfur) and sour (higher sulfur) crude. DOE reports site inventory as of August 5, 2026; the weekly EIA figure above carries a different, usually later, observation date, so the two totals are not the same measurement.

The four SPR storage sites, per DOE: Bryan Mound (Brazoria County, TX), Big Hill (Jefferson County, TX), West Hackberry (Cameron Parish, LA) and Bayou Choctaw (Iberville Parish, LA). Dot area is proportional to inventory as of August 5, 2026; site positions are approximate.

Year-end inventory by year

The last three years, week by week

Latest 52 weeks

Capacity and drawdown are different numbers

• Authorized storage capacity: 714 million barrels (DOE, August 5, 2026). How much the caverns are authorized to hold, not how much is in them. Capacity has changed over the reserve's life, which is why the history chart does not draw today's capacity as a line across past decades.
• Maximum nominal drawdown capability: 4.4 million barrels per day (DOE). How fast oil can physically be pumped out; DOE states oil can reach the U.S. market about 13 days after a Presidential decision. Whether and when to draw down is a policy decision, and this page does not speculate on it.

Frequently asked questions

How much oil is in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve right now?

The SPR held 283.0 million barrels of crude oil in the week ending October 9, 2026, per EIA weekly data. That is 39.6% of its 714 million barrels of authorized storage capacity.

Why is the SPR at its lowest level since 1982?

On March 11, 2026, President Trump authorized the Department of Energy to release 172 million barrels over approximately 120 days, per DOE's announcement, as the U.S. share of a 400-million-barrel collective action by IEA member countries during the 2026 Middle East supply disruption. DOE executed the program as emergency exchanges. The section above carries the sourced timeline and the measured weekly decline.

Who can order oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

It depends on the mechanism. Emergency drawdowns are ordered by the President. The Department of Energy also runs smaller test sales and exchanges, and Congress has directed sales by law, per DOE's release history.

What is the difference between an emergency drawdown, an exchange, and a mandated sale?

In an emergency drawdown, oil is sold after a Presidential order. In an exchange, companies borrow SPR crude and later return it plus additional premium barrels. In a congressionally mandated sale, DOE sells volumes that Congress directed in legislation. All three appear in DOE's release history; the 2026 release is being executed as emergency exchanges.

How fast can SPR oil reach the market?

DOE puts maximum nominal drawdown capability at 4.4 million barrels per day (as of August 5, 2026), and states oil can enter the U.S. market about 13 days after a Presidential decision, per DOE's SPR Quick Facts (13-day figure verified August 30, 2026).

Is the SPR the same as U.S. oil reserves?

No. The SPR is the federal government's emergency stockpile of already-produced crude oil in salt caverns. It is not U.S. proved oil reserves in the ground, and it is not the commercial crude inventory that refiners hold.

See also strategic petroleum reserves by country, U.S. energy facts and statistics, Strait of Hormuz oil flows, why gas prices are high, and gas prices by state.

Sources: EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report (series WCSSTUS1, weekly since 1982); DOE SPR Quick Facts (site inventory, capacity, drawdown capability, as of August 5, 2026). Every figure carries its own observation date. See methodology.