The nation’s emergency reserve for oil and fuel supplies is slipping below Biden-era lows to its most exhausted level since the Reagan era—when the nearly 50-year-old U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was still being filled up. The SPR will hit its lowest volumes since 1983 any day now—if not already—and continue sinking lower as the Trump administration keeps oil exports flowing to the rest of the world and tries to stop domestic prices from rocketing further, Fortune’s Jordan Blum reports.
The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and the fear is it’s just a matter of time before energy markets begin to “panic” and fuel prices soar more uncontrollably, possibly in July or August, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “The longer this goes on the fewer tools the administration has in dealing with it and the more risk there is to a slingshot for costs,” De Haan told Fortune.
The administration has drained 66 million barrels—as of June 5—and counting from the SPR since the war in Iran began, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Trump has authorized the overall release of 172 million barrels over several months.
BP’s new CEO Meg O’Neill rips up the energy giant’s playbook—and the ‘green’ era with it - Jordan Blum
