By Julianne Geiger – May 15, 2026, 12:30 PM CDT
The Trump administration will put back into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve whatever oil it takes out—and then some—during the current emergency drawdown period, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said at an event on Friday.
The plan, according to Wright, is to add 1.2 barrels to the SPR for every barrel it takes now.
“We’ll leave it fuller than when we started,” he said, stopping short of detailing the plan for how that would work.
The SPR currently sits around 384 million barrels, according to the latest EIA data, after falling sharply in recent weeks. That is a long way from the roughly 621 million barrels held in September 2021 before the reserve entered one of the largest drawdown periods in its history.
Most of that decline occurred during the Biden administration. Between late 2021 and mid-2023, SPR inventories fell from around 621 million barrels to roughly 347 million barrels, a reduction of about 274 million barrels. The releases were intended to address fuel price pressures and offset market disruptions as global oil markets tightened.
The current administration initially moved in the other direction. Inventories climbed from roughly 393 million barrels at the beginning of 2025 to more than 415 million barrels by this spring, adding about 22 million barrels.
But then, Iran.
Middle East supply disruptions and escalating tensions around the Strait of Hormuz quickly changed the SPR’s inventory trajectory. And since late March, oil inventories in the SPR have dropped back below 385 million barrels—a dip of roughly 30 million barrels.
At 1.2 barrels for every barrel taken out of the SPR, that would be 36 million barrels that the current administration has just tasked itself with replenishing. If it stopped withdrawing today.
Governments generally prefer buying oil when prices are lower.
Refilling the reserve raises practical questions. 36 million barrels do not simply appear because a target gets announced. Refill barrels have to compete with refinery demand, export markets, producer incentives, and whatever geopolitical crisis arrives next. And the added demand from the administration chipping away at purchasing an additional 36 million barrels will place additional pressure on oil prices.
No further details as to the timing of the restock were offered.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- India’s Wholesale Inflation Hits 3.5-Year High as Fuel Costs Surge 25%
- China Still Cautious on Fuel Shipments Despite Eased Export Rules
- Sinopec Opens Major Ultra-Deep Shale Gas Play in China
Julianne Geiger
Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group.
