Massive SPR Oil Release Drains U.S. Emergency Crude Stockpile to Two-Year Low

A record drawdown from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has pushed emergency crude inventories to their lowest level in nearly two years as global oil supplies tighten amid escalating geopolitical tensions.

(Reuters) — A record 9.9 million barrels of oil were shipped out from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve last week, data from the Department of Energy showed on May 18, pushing the total volumes in the U.S. government's emergency stash to about 374 million barrels, its lowest since July 2024.

The Trump administration is seeking a release of 172 million barrels from the reserve as part of a global agreement to calm oil markets as prices spiked over the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that began nearly three months ago.

The Energy Department in April had offered about 92.5 million barrels of sweet and sour crudes from the four different storage caverns along the Texas and Louisiana coast. About 53.33 million barrels, the most this year, were awarded last week.

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said on May 18 that commercial oil inventories were depleting rapidly, with only a few weeks' worth left due to the Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of global oil supplies passed daily before the conflict began.

Global observed oil inventories fell at a record pace in March and April, dropping by 246 million barrels, the IEA said in its latest monthly oil market report.