On July 29, multiple news outlets reported that the Biden Administration has replenished the 180 million barrels of oil it removed from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. One headline read “U.S. Restores SPR to pre-2022 Levels.”
An article in The Hill reported:
“The Biden administration says it has replenished the 180 million barrels of oil it withdrew from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to high prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
It is absolutely false that the SPR has been replenished. In fact, here were the SPR levels as of July 19:
SPR Levels through Week Ending July 19.Energy Information Administration
The reporting seems to be a misreading of the following precisely-worded commentary by Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm:
“As promised, we have secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to Putin’s war in Ukraine – and we accomplished this while getting a good deal for taxpayers and maintaining the readiness of the world’s largest Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”
Let’s review what’s happened here, because these comments have resulted in confused reports on the outcome.
President Joe Biden inherited an SPR at 638 million barrels when he took office in January 2021. However, first in response to rising gasoline prices, and then as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Biden announced the most aggressive SPR drawdown in history.
At its low point in July 2023, the SPR was drawn down by 288 million barrels, although some of that was due to congressionally-mandated sales. Since then, the Biden Administration has made a few purchases to put oil back in the SPR. But, as of the week ending July 19, SPR levels had only risen 27.7 million barrels from the low point. That is only 9.6% of the oil that was removed from the SPR.
Today, the SPR is still 260.6 million barrels below the level it was when Joe Biden was inaugurated. There is an obvious disconnect in that and what is being reported.
Here is the confusion explained. Secretary Granholm and the DOE said that they initially removed 180 million barrels in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This doesn’t account for all the oil that was removed since Biden took office, so that’s the first error in reports that it has been replenished to pre-2022 levels (which were >600 million barrels).
But note the full context of the DOE press release, which wasn’t widely reported:
“On top of the 140 million barrels of oil secured by working with Congress to cancel previously-mandated sales, this brings the total purchased or kept in the SPR since 2022 to 180 million barrels – the full amount sold following the unprecedented Russian war against Ukraine.”
What exactly are they saying here? Well, the first thing they are doing is taking credit for barrels that have yet to be delivered. They have crafted a minor SPR purchase into creating an impression that they have replaced 180 million barrels of oil that were removed from the SPR.
ADVERTISEMENT
But the most important aspect of the story is that the DOE worked with Congress to cancel previously-mandated sales. So, it wasn’t that 140 million barrels were put back, they are saying they avoided depleting it by another 140 million barrels in the future.
So, it is absolutely false that the SPR has been replenished to pre-2022 levels. This reporting is based on a misunderstanding of the DOE’s comments, which seem designed to imply that 180 million barrels were put back into the SPR.
Today, the SPR remains over 40% below the level it was when Joe Biden took office, and it will remain at approximately that level through the election.
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Natural Gas Becomes the Dominant Source of Electricity in the U.S.
- Trump's Trade Policies Threaten to Disrupt Global Energy Markets
- U.S. Power Plants Hold the Highest Coal Stock Levels Since 2020
Since coming to the White House, the Biden administration withdrew a reported 288 mb from the SPR to use to depress oil prices reducing the SPR level to 350 mb. But, as of the week ending July 19, SPR levels had only risen 27.7 bb to 377.7 bb. That is only 9.6% of the oil that was withdrawn. On this basis, it will take a minimum of 10-15 years to refill the SPR to its normal level of 638 mb with the distinct possibility of never being refilled.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert