Trump orders 172M barrels released from strategic reserve: How much oil will remain?

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Oil shock from Iran war prompts countries to open strategic reserves

Oil shock from Iran war prompts countries to open strategic reserves

(NEXSTAR) – Amid rising gas and energy prices and with the key passageway for oil shipping still closed, the U.S. and other members of the International Energy Agency said they will release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history.

That release will include 172 million barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, President Trump confirmed on Wednesday.

It marks the first drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, since former President Biden issued a release of 1 million barrels a day for six months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The SPR holds massive volumes of crude oil across four sites along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana, according to the Department of Energy. Created after an oil embargo in the 1970s, the sites are found in heavily guarded underground salt caverns.

The strategic reserve can house up to 713.5 million barrels of crude oil, but previously had a capacity of 727 million barrels. The most it has ever held was 726.6 million barrels. As of March 6, it’s holding more than 415 million barrels.

That’s about 125 days worth of U.S. crude oil net imports, according to the Energy Department.

Tapping the reserve is among the few things a president can do alone to try to control inflation. According to the Department of Energy, the reserve is always “drawdown ready,” meaning it can release crude oil to the market within 13 days of the president’s direction.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the release of 172 million barrels ordered by Trump could take about 120 days to complete.

If the U.S. does not add any barrels to the reserve, that would reduce the SPR’s stock to about 243 million barrels. However, Wright said the U.S. “has arranged to more than replace these strategic reserves with approximately 200 million barrels within the next year — 20% more barrels than will be drawn down.”

Oil prices have remained high since conflict broke out in the Middle East roughly two weeks ago, even after the IEA’s announced release. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, got as high as $101.59 overnight before pulling back to $100.44 Thursday morning.

However, Trump has argued that higher oil prices benefit the U.S., writing Thursday on Truth Social that “The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”

Wright, while speaking with CNN earlier in the day, said Americans will likely feel “short-term pain” from energy costs, but it’s necessary “to solve a long-term problem.”

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline sits at $3.598 as of Thursday, according to AAA. That’s up two cents since Wednesday and 34 cents over the last week. In six states — California, Hawaii, Washington, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona — the average price for a gallon of regular gas has surpassed the $4 mark. Alaska is close behind at $3.961.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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