The EIA’s latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) released this morning highlights the growing strain the Iran conflict is placing on global oil balances. For the week ended May 15, inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) – the world’s largest supply of emergency crude oil - posted a nearly 10 MMbbl draw (far right in chart below), dropping stocks to 374 MMbbl. As discussed in this week's Crude Oil Billboard, this is the largest weekly decline on record and surpasses last week’s then-record 8.6 MMbbl draw, as Washington continues releasing emergency barrels to offset supply disruptions tied to the war and instability around the Strait of Hormuz. This draw is part of the larger coordinated 400 MMbbl release with the IEA and participating member countries as a way to address supply disruptions and price hikes connected to the War in Iran.
Featured Articles
- Analyst Insight
Crude Cushion: IEA Announces Record 400 MMbbl Release as Hormuz Flows Remain Blocked
Earlier today (Wednesday, March 11), the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced the unanimous decision across its 32 member countries to release 400 MMbbl of its emergency stockpile to alleviate supply pressures tied to the war in the Middle East.
- Blog
Big Time – Exchange of Barrels from U.S. SPR Would Drop Stocks to Lowest Levels Since the 1980s
Today, we detail U.S. plans to release 172 MMbbl from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, examine how it compares with U.S. actions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and why the SPR could drop to levels not seen since the Reagan administration.
- Analyst Insight
Trump Administration Considers 30-Day Waiver of Jones Act
The White House is considering a 30-day waiver of the Jones Act that would allow foreign tankers to move fuel from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast to ease U.S. gasoline prices.
Comments
Current US Crude Oil storage as of this week's EIA report was 819.2m barrels. If you have an estimate of the minimum operational crude oil storage level, can you please share. ie is is 150 m barrels, 200m barrels , etc ?