US oil reserves near 40-year low at 349.2 million barrels
Oil reserves fell by 7.9 million barrels during the week of June 5 to 349.2 million barrels as the war in Iran surpassed the three-month mark. Since the initial strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, the Energy Department has released a total of 66.2 million barrels of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Video above: A map of the four storage sites of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum ReserveThe Energy Department has been offsetting supply shortages after Iran blocked the passage of oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through this strait. When did the Strategic Petroleum Reserve hit low levels?U.S. oil reserves last reached a 40-year low of 346.8 million barrels back in 2023 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 the Russia-Ukraine war.The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established in 1975 to store up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum products. The largest amount of crude oil inside the U.S. oil reserves was 726.5 million barrels in July 2011. Current levels are around half of that. The United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world. In 2025, the United States consumed an average of about 20.6 million barrels of petroleum per day, or a total of about 7.52 billion barrels of petroleum, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4K
Oil reserves fell by 7.9 million barrels during the week of June 5 to 349.2 million barrels as the war in Iran surpassed the three-month mark. Since the initial strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, the Energy Department has released a total of 66.2 million barrels of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Video above: A map of the four storage sites of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve
The Energy Department has been offsetting supply shortages after Iran blocked the passage of oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of the world’s oil supply passes through this strait.
When did the Strategic Petroleum Reserve hit low levels?
U.S. oil reserves last reached a 40-year low of 346.8 million barrels back in 2023 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 the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established in 1975 to store up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum products. The largest amount of crude oil inside the U.S. oil reserves was 726.5 million barrels in July 2011. Current levels are around half of that.
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The United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world. In 2025, the United States consumed an average of about 20.6 million barrels of petroleum per day, or a total of about 7.52 billion barrels of petroleum, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.