US oil reserve at half its normal levels, facing operational failure: bombshell watchdog warning

WASHINGTON — The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at its lowest level since the 1980s after tens of millions of barrels of oil were drained from it in response to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, a government watchdog found.Additionally, the nation’s emergency energy stockpile’s operational ability is at risk due to aging infrastructure that hasn’t been replaced, per the US Government Accountability Office.The GAO report, which was publicly released Friday, had raised a number of red flags about the reserve, which has been tapped repeatedly in recent decades as gas prices have soared and Congress mandated sales to pay for billions of dollars in needed maintenance.The reserve can store up to about 680 million barrels of oil.But, as of early June, it held less than 350 million barrels.At least 180 million barrels were released due to the invasion of Ukraine and the mandatory sales. And it may get even lower.More oil is being drained to ease domestic gas prices that spiked with the war with Iran.

In March 2026, the Department of Energy announced plans to release an additional 172 million barrels after the flow of global oil was interrupted.“The full timing and implications of this large-scale emergency release are not yet realized,” the GAO noted in a warning the situation could be more dire than is known.Additionally, there is no plan in place to replace the reserves or a method to identify where the oil and gas would come from to replenish the coffers.Clay Seigle, a non-resident scholar with the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program, previously told The Post that the US had been “drastically ramping up oil exports” to bridge supply chain disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.Some countries in Asia such as the Philippines were among the first recipients of the US oil reserves.The Energy Department, in its March announcement of the release, said there was a plan to replace the oil but offered no immediate details.“The G...