economy
Depleted strategic oil reserve nears level that raises concerns about damage to caverns, operations
The rapid drawdown of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve could damage the caverns that store the oil, experts warn.
TL;DR
- The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has fallen below 300 million barrels, a level not seen since the early 1980s.
- Experts warn that rapid releases of oil could damage the salt caverns storing the reserves, impairing future emergency responses.
- The Energy Department states that caverns are always full, with only the ratio of oil to water changing, and disputes claims of imminent collapse.
- Concerns about cavern integrity have been raised by both political parties and noted in Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports, which indicate that repeated drawdowns can deform caverns and weaken salt pillars.
- The SPR has undergone more drawdowns than it was originally designed for, leading to accelerated salt fall and weakened structural integrity.
- Some experts estimate a practical operational floor for the SPR between 250 million and 300 million barrels, below which cavern integrity and operational capability are at elevated risk.
- More than a quarter of the SPR inventory was unavailable for drawdown as of December 2025 due to various outages.