Tensions in the Middle East following U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran have disrupted global oil and gas supplies and pushed up prices. This has raised questions about the amount of oil reserves the United States has left. Strategic Petroleum ReserveThe United States has the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil, called the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). President Gerald Ford created the SPR in 1975 after the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, which cut off oil flowing into the United States. There are four SPR sites located along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) signed in 1975, the policy is to establish a reserve of up to one billion barrels of petroleum.As of 2025, the SPR held less than half that goal — 413 million barrels of crude oil. The closest the SPR got to reaching one billion barrels was in 2009 when the reserve reached its highest level of 726 million barrels. However, the reserve supply has dipped dramatically in recent years as U.S. presidents have ordered the release of oil.In 2023, SPR levels fell to a record low of 354 million barrels after then-President Joe Biden ordered the release of 180 million barrels of crude oil to mitigate a shortfall in the production of oil caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Other countries also maintain stockpiles of crude oil for release in the event of a supply disruption, under the International Energy Agency. There are 32 members of the IEA and they hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels, with an additional 600 million barrels held by commercial investors as part of the IEA stockpile. Commercial crude oil In the United States, U.S. firms also have their own commercial oil inventory, which the Energy Information Administration monitors.As of the week ending Feb. 27, U.S. crude oil inventory, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, stood at about 439.3 million barrels. This is 3.5 million barrels more than the previous week but still 3% below the five-year average for this time of the year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report. The United States is both the world’s top producer of oil and top consumer of oil. In 2023, the United States consumed an average of about 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day, totaling about 7.39 billion barrels for the year, according to the EIA.
Tensions in the Middle East following U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran have disrupted global oil and gas supplies and pushed up prices. This has raised questions about the amount of oil reserves the United States has left.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The United States has the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil, called the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). President Gerald Ford created the SPR in 1975 after the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo, which cut off oil flowing into the United States.
There are four SPR sites located along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. Under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) signed in 1975, the policy is to establish a reserve of up to one billion barrels of petroleum.
As of 2025, the SPR held less than half that goal — 413 million barrels of crude oil.
The closest the SPR got to reaching one billion barrels was in 2009 when the reserve reached its highest level of 726 million barrels. However, the reserve supply has dipped dramatically in recent years as U.S. presidents have ordered the release of oil.
In 2023, SPR levels fell to a record low of 354 million barrels after then-President Joe Biden ordered the release of 180 million barrels of crude oil to mitigate a shortfall in the production of oil caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Other countries also maintain stockpiles of crude oil for release in the event of a supply disruption, under the International Energy Agency. There are 32 members of the IEA and they hold emergency stockpiles of over 1.2 billion barrels, with an additional 600 million barrels held by commercial investors as part of the IEA stockpile.
Commercial crude oil
In the United States, U.S. firms also have their own commercial oil inventory, which the Energy Information Administration monitors.
As of the week ending Feb. 27, U.S. crude oil inventory, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, stood at about 439.3 million barrels. This is 3.5 million barrels more than the previous week but still 3% below the five-year average for this time of the year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report.
The United States is both the world’s top producer of oil and top consumer of oil. In 2023, the United States consumed an average of about 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day, totaling about 7.39 billion barrels for the year, according to the EIA.
