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

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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. 

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 GAO report makes clear what we have said from day one: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a critical national security asset that must be managed strategically—not politically,” a Department of Energy spokesperson said in a statement.

“Unlike the previous administration which drained the SPR and used the revenue to help fund their Green New Scam agenda, the Trump administration exchanged the barrels for lower cost barrels that will be delivered back to the SPR. These exchanges will more than replace the 172-million-barrel release.”

The rep added: “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, this Administration is managing the SPR as the critical national security asset it was designed to be, helping stabilize oil markets, protect Americans from supply disruptions, and strengthen energy security at home and abroad.”

The GAO report also noted there’s a growing list of needed upgrades and repairs to the actual storage facilities, which are in Louisiana and Texas, to keep oil and gas from leaking and to ensure it can be accessed as needed. 

For example, the vast majority of its wells are far past the average design life of 20 to 30 years — with one of the newest being 38 years old.

The Energy Department is in the process of completing a $1.4 billion life extension project on the SPR, but the repairs “are not keeping pace with the aging reserve’s needs, resulting in a growing backlog and looming operational limitations,” the report found.

“Addressing these needs would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but if left undone could undermine the reserve’s ability to safely and reliably release and receive oil,” the GAO said.

The current maintenance backlog would cost approximately $230 million to address, the Energy Department projected in December 2025.

The Trump administration has aggressively expanded US oil and gas production, approving drilling projects in the Gulf of America, off the coast of California, and in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But it’s unclear how much of these commercial projects would flow back into the reserves, which are owned and operated by the US government. 

One concern the report raised was how much was unknown about the future of the reserve — both in its capacity to hold oil and its plan for replenishing the stock pile.

The GAO recommended that Congress and the Energy Department develop a unified long-term plan to answer some of these questions and help guide their decision making.

There is no plan to identify a “target size” for the reserve and how the facility can “meet changing US needs and obligations” when it comes to energy, the watchdog agency warns, adding there was no method to identify resources to refill the reserve.