US oil reserves hit lowest levels since the 1980s
Arabia - Energy experts have warned that the intensive drawdown from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in response to the fallout from the war with Iran could cause structural damage to the salt caverns storing crude oil, as stocks have fallen to their lowest levels since the early 1980s.
Experts explained that any damage to these caverns could limit the United States' ability to respond to future energy crises. The oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stored in 60 salt caverns located thousands of feet underground at four main sites along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana.
U.S. Department of Energy data showed that reserve volumes dropped below 300 million barrels for the first time since the reserve was filled in the early 1980s, following the release of 172 million barrels to offset supply disruptions linked to the Iranian war. The stockpile is expected to fall to around 243 million barrels once drawdown operations are completed.
While the Department of Energy has affirmed that maintaining at least 70 million barrels is necessary to safely manage the caverns, Amos Hochstein, a senior energy advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, has cast doubt on this estimate.
Hochstein stated that the belief that the reserve could be drawn down to 70 million barrels is unrealistic, warning that reaching this level could make rebuilding the reserve extremely difficult in the future.
Hochstein also warned that reducing the stockpile below 300 million barrels could damage the salt caverns themselves, noting that many experts view reaching these levels as posing a genuine technical risk.
In response, the Department of Energy dismissed these concerns, affirming that the caverns remain full and that only the ratio of oil to water inside them changes. The U.S. administration manages the reserve as a vital national security asset.
Siddharth Misra, a petroleum engineering professor at Texas A&M University, explained that the 70 million barrel level represents the minimum physical threshold required to keep extraction pipes submerged in oil rather than water.
However, he noted that the practical operational limit for the reserve ranges between 250 and 300 million barrels, clarifying that current stock levels increase the risks to the safety and operational capacity of the caverns.
He added that a drop in stockpiles below 300 million barrels reduces the reserve's ability to pump oil rapidly during crises, and may also increase the likelihood of damage to pipes and pumps as the oil layer shrinks and sediments rise toward the drawdown openings.
