The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Has Fallen to Its Lowest Point Since 1987

The volume of crude oil in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) decreased by 5 million barrels during the week ending May 13.

Stockpiles from 1987, to 538 million barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

According to the data, approximately 3.9 million barrels of sour oil and 1.1 million barrels of sweet crude were discharged onto the market.

President Joe Biden announced in March the largest release ever from the U.S. emergency oil reserve, 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil for six months, in an effort to reduce gasoline prices that had skyrocketed due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Prior to that, the United States had agreed to release 30 million barrels of SPR oil in March and 50 million barrels from SPR in November.

The price of a barrel of crude oil in the United States has increased by over 25 percent to nearly $114 due to market concerns about a supply shortage. This week, retail gasoline and diesel prices reached all-time highs as fuel demand returned to pre-pandemic levels and refining capacity fell.

The 180 million-barrel discharge was the third time in the previous six months that the United States had tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Winners of the most recent SPR auction were Valero Energy Corp (NYSE:VLO), Motiva, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Shell (LON:RDSa), Phillips, and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:MPC).

According to U.S. Customs data, ship tracking, and an industry source, at least three vessels carrying crude oil from U.S. emergency stocks set sail for Europe in April as European refiners rushed to replace Russian crude supplies.