Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Though policymakers first proposed the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) during the international turmoil of the 1940s, they didn’t ultimately create the SPR until after the 1973 Arab oil embargo.1 To guard against similar emergencies in the future, U.S. leaders determined that “stockpiling crude oil in the SPR reduces the nation’s vulnerability to economic, national security, and foreign policy consequences of petroleum supply interruptions.”2

The SPR enables the United States and fellow International Energy Agency (IEA) members to better absorb oil spikes imposed by collaborating non-members and relieve dependence on foreign supplies during domestic and international crises. (The IEA also mandates that member countries maintain emergency oil stocks equal to 90 days of their prior year’s net imports.)

In direct response to OPEC’s 1973 oil embargo, President Gerald Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (1975), codifying the creation of a reserve of up to one billion barrels of petroleum.3 The federally owned oil stocks have a capacity of 727 million barrels (shy of the one billion barrel benchmark) and are stored in underground salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico coastline.4 Today the SPR contains 691 million barrels of oil.5

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act authorizes the president to withdraw crude oil from the SPR in times of national emergency. In the three decades since the reserve’s creation, presidents have made withdrawals in just three instances:

  • 1991: After Iraq invaded Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush ordered the “first-ever emergency drawdown of the SPR” and, in coordination with fellow IEA countries, thereby helped to “restore stability to world oil markets during the Persian Gulf War.”6 
  • 2005: Hurricane Katrina incapacitated numerous oil production facilities located along America’s Gulf Coast. In response, President George W. Bush authorized the sale of 30 million barrels of SPR crude oil to U.S. markets.7
  • 2011: The United States and its IEA partners released 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu declared,“We are taking this action in response to the ongoing loss of crude oil due to supply disruptions in Libya and other countries and their impact on the global economic recovery.”8

These instances make clear that the SPR remains a “significant deterrent to oil import cutoffs and a key tool of foreign policy.”9

 [1] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy. 

 [2] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.

 [3] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.

 [4] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.

 [5] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve Inventory,” U.S. Department of Energy, (July 2015).

 [6] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.

 [7] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.

 [8] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.

 [9] “Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.