SPR Archives - Oil & Gas 360

Global Strategic Petroleum Reserves, Part 3 (Final): Cost, Misuse, and Governance Failures

March 13, 2026

(Oil & Gas 360) By Greg Barnett, MBA SPR as a national balance sheet—and why politicians keep over-promising what it can do. SPR policy is often marketed as “energy security.” In practice it is also financial engineering, governance, and political incentive. This final section frames SPRs as balance-sheet positions, compares burden to macro measures, and highlights governance and political misuse

Traders spooked by massive crude inventory build

October 16, 2025

(Oil Price)- The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States increased by a large 7.36 million barrels in the week ending October 10. Analysts had forecast a much smaller 120,000-barrel build for the week. Today’s build comes after the IEA predicted a smaller global oil demand growth estimate for this year, along with a higher

DOE okays exchange from SPR to Exxon to ease crude quality issue

July 14, 2025

(Oil Price)– The U.S. Department of Energy has authorized the exchange of up to 1 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ease the crude shortage at Exxon’s refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after quality issues with the Mars crude grade emerged last week. DOE has authorized an exchange from the SPR with ExxonMobil Corporation “to address logistical challenges impacting

US House budget bill seeks more than $1.5 billion for Strategic Petroleum Reserve

May 12, 2025

(Investing) – WASHINGTON -A U.S. House committee released a budget proposal that includes more than $1.5 billion to replenish and maintain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and cancels a congressionally mandated sale, following huge sales from the facility in 2022. The proposal from the House Energy and Commerce Committee released late on Sunday contains $1.32 billion to purchase oil to help replenish

Gas overhang awaits winter, oil storage solid

October 16, 2024

(Oil & Gas 360) – The seemingly unending downward pressure on domestic natural gas prices isn’t getting much relief, given October storage numbers, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). October is routinely known as the start of injection season for increasing natural gas inventories ahead of winter. The agency shows current storage to be over 175 billion cubic feet (BCF)

Bad policies leave U.S. vulnerable to Middle East oil crisis

October 7, 2024

(Oil Price) – The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, pumping some 13 million barrels every day. Yet the U.S. is also the biggest consumer of crude, a major exporter, and a country with an empty strategic petroleum reserve. Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm called the U.S. “unusually vulnerable” to an oil shock. Just a month ago, such

U.S. Energy Department short on cash to refill SPR at low prices

September 17, 2024

Oil Price The price of the U.S. WTI crude oil has finally stayed in the low $70s per barrel for a sustainable period of time, allowing the Biden Administration to ramp up the refill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which it had said would do at prices of $79 a barrel or below. WTI Crude is now at $70 per

Biden administration purchases over 4 MMbbl of crude oil for Strategic Petroleum Reserve

July 31, 2024

World Oil (Bloomberg) – The Biden administration announced Monday it has purchased 4.65 MMbbl of crude oil for the nation’s emergency cache as it continues refilling the depleted reserve. The Energy Department has been slowly replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which reached a 40-year-low following an unprecedented drawdown in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, the Biden

Republicans warn Biden against using Strategic Petroleum Reserve as “political tool” amid rising summer gas prices

May 30, 2024

World Oil (Bloomberg) – Top Republicans are warning the Biden administration against tapping into the nation’s strategic oil reserve to bring down gasoline prices with five months to go before the presidential election. The message, sent in a letter Wednesday to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, comes as Biden administration officials have hinted they may be willing to release oil from

Biden administration restarts plans to refill Strategic Petroleum Reserve as oil prices dip

May 7, 2024

World Oil (Bloomberg) – The Biden administration is taking advantage of a dip in oil prices to restart plans to refill its depleted emergency oil cache. The Energy Department announced Tuesday it was seeking as much as 3.3 MMbbl of crude oil in October for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after a rise in oil prices led the agency to cancel

U.S. aims to restock strategic oil reserves by year-end

March 19, 2024

Oil Price The Biden Administration aims to have crude in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) back up to the levels before the massive sales of 180 million barrels in the past two years, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. The U.S. saw the stockpiles of crude oil in the SPR fall from 638 million barrels

Biden’s SPR gamble sparks debate over U.S. energy security

March 13, 2024

Oil Price The United States established its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in the wake of the 1973–1974 oil embargo that disrupted oil imports and drove oil prices much higher. The SPR consists primarily of several large underground salt caverns for storage located along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana. These sites were chosen based on their geologic stability and

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