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The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983 · Chronopin

EnergyPosted 09/22/202609/22/2026 at 2:29 pm·@EnergyDesk To timeline

US Department of Energy

The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983

Starts 08/10/2026

James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States

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Economy
Policy
Iran
Oil
SPR
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The figure comes from the Energy^[3] Department's weekly stocks data released on Monday 10 August 2026, as reported the same day.

Start: Aug 10, 202690% CONFIDENCEfrom the source

The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983

Weekly Energy Department data published on 10 August 2026 put the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at 298.7 million barrels, down 6.1 million in a week and the lowest reading in the EIA series since January 1983. The stockpile had held about 415 million barrels before the Iran war began.

Weekly DOE data released on 10 August 2026 showed the reserve down 6.1 million barrels on the week, to 298.7 million^[1]
That is the lowest level in the EIA's weekly series on SPR stocks since January 1983^[1]
The reserve held about 415.4 million barrels in mid-March 2026, before the 172-million-barrel release began, so it was down about 116 million by early August^[1]
The decline follows the 180-million-barrel drawdown of 2022; inventories bottomed near 347 million in the summer of 2023 before recovering to about 400 million^[1]
The premium barrels owed back under the 2026 exchanges are what is meant to refill it^[3]

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References 388% CONFIDENCE

The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.

[1]90%
foxbusiness.com/markets/oil-us-strategic-petroleum-reserve-falls-lowest-level-since-1983
foxbusiness.com· Posted Sep 22, 2026· Starts Aug 10, 2026 ✓· 33% of score
The figure comes from the Energy^[3] Department's weekly stocks data released on Monday 10 August 2026, as reported the same day.
[2]85%
Oil in U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve falls below 300 million barrels, lowest since 1983 (CNBC)
cnbc.com· Added Sep 22, 2026· 33% of score
Independent reporting of the same weekly figure and the 1983 comparison.^[1]
[3]90%
Energy Department Awards Contracts from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Advancing President Trump's Historic Emergency Exchange
energy.gov· Added Sep 22, 2026· 33% of score
DOE on the premium barrels owed back, which is the mechanism meant to refill the reserve.^[1]

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1Ford Signs the Law That Creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
2The First 412,000 Barrels Go Underground at West Hackberry
3Desert Storm Triggers the SPR's First Emergency Drawdown
4Katrina Empties 11 Million Barrels From the Reserve
5The IEA's Libya Action Sells 30.6 Million Barrels of SPR Crude
6Biden Starts the Largest Drawdown in the Reserve's History
7Trump Orders 172 Million Barrels Out as Hormuz Chokes
8DOE Puts 86 Million Barrels Up for Exchange at Once
9Bryan Mound Lends Out Another 10 Million Barrels
10West Hackberry Lends 26 Million Barrels of Sweet Crude
11DOE Awards the Biggest Exchange in the SPR's Fifty Years
12The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983

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