Strategic Petroleum Reserves

Government held crude stockpiles kept for supply emergencies.

Overview

After the 1973 oil embargo, consuming nations built emergency stocks, and members of the International Energy Agency must hold reserves equal to at least 90 days of net imports. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve stores crude in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana and is the largest government stockpile of its kind. In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States sold a record 180 million barrels, cutting the reserve to its lowest level since the early 1980s, and later began buying barrels back. China, Japan, India and others hold large stocks, and coordinated IEA releases are used to calm price spikes caused by wars and hurricanes.