The United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve is running out. As of mid-June, it held 340.3 million barrels, the lowest level since July 1983. The Iran war has burned through it at a rate not seen since the 2022 Ukraine crisis, and there is no plan to refill it.
The SPR was created after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, when the United States discovered that its economy could be paralyzed by decisions made in faraway capitals. The reserve consists of 60 massive underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana, designed to hold up to 680 million barrels of crude oil that can be pumped out and distributed to refineries within days.
Since the Iran war began in February 2026, the Trump administration has released roughly 75 million barrels from the reserve, an 18 percent decline. The administration pledged a total of 172 million barrels in March as part of a coordinated international response to the disruption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
The releases have helped prevent worse. Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, said the SPR releases, combined with releases by other governments, “have prevented the Armageddon scenario of $150 oil from happening to date.” Brent crude has fluctuated between $70 and $85 a barrel, high enough to sting consumers but not catastrophic.
But the reserve cannot sustain this pace indefinitely. At current release rates, the SPR could fall below 250 million barrels by the end of the year, dangerously close to the point where the physical cavern infrastructure can no longer function efficiently. The Government Accountability Office warned in a May 2026 report that the aging reserve faces “significant challenges,” including the need to repeatedly triage emergency repairs and maneuver around logistical hurdles.
The timing is particularly bad for hurricane season. The Gulf Coast is the heart of US oil refining and the location of all four SPR storage sites. A major storm that shuts down refineries or damages cavern infrastructure would leave the country with a much thinner buffer than it had during previous hurricanes like Katrina (2005) or Harvey (2017).
There is also a political irony that Republicans have been quick to note. During the 2022 midterm campaign, Donald Trump harshly criticized Joe Biden for releasing oil from the SPR, calling it a short-term political fix. Now Trump is drawing down the reserve at an even faster pace ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Replenishing the SPR will be slow and expensive. The US bought oil to refill the reserve after the 2022 releases, but the Iran war interrupted those purchases. With oil prices elevated by geopolitical uncertainty, buying 340 million barrels on the open market would cost tens of billions of dollars, money Congress has not appropriated.
The Strait of Hormuz crisis has demonstrated both the value and the limits of the SPR. It has worked as designed, cushioning the economic shock of a major supply disruption. But the reserve was built for emergencies, not for managing a prolonged conflict. The longer the Iran war continues, the thinner the cushion becomes, and the harder it will be to replace.