The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 340.3 million barrels as of June 12, its lowest level since 1983, deepening an emergency stockpile crisis just as Washington and Tehran finalised a preliminary peace framework to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

  • SPR inventory dropped to 340.3 million barrels as of June 12, down 8.9 million barrels in a single week, the third-steepest draw on record.
  • The Trump administration committed to releasing 172 million barrels as part of a coordinated 400-million-barrel International Energy Agency drawdown, the largest such intervention in the organisation's history.
  • Once the full release is complete, reserves are projected to fall to roughly 243 million barrels, approximately one-third of the 714-million-barrel authorised capacity.
  • Government figures indicate the SPR is currently less than half full, approaching the minimum 20% operational threshold flagged by industry officials.

The US Department of Energy confirmed the 340.3 million barrel figure in a Monday release, noting that the SPR has shed 75 million barrels, or roughly 18%, since the Iran conflict began in late February. The week ending June 12 recorded the third-steepest single-week draw in the reserve's history.

Officials stated that the barrels released were exchanged rather than sold outright, with a return rate premium of approximately 26%, translating to more than 34 million barrels owed back and projected savings above $3 billion for taxpayers.

The depletion creates a structural policy problem. Commercial vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which handled roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments before the closure, is expected to resume by Friday under the preliminary agreement. Analysts warn, however, that physical supply chain normalisation takes weeks to months, meaning the SPR may need to continue absorbing domestic shortfalls even after the diplomatic deal is formalised in Geneva.

The coincidence of a peace framework and historically thin strategic reserves puts energy policy officials in the position of managing a replenishment campaign while potentially facing political pressure to allow prices to fall quickly. Purchasing replacement crude at current market prices, following months of artificially suppressed costs from emergency releases, carries significant fiscal implications entering the midterm cycle.