SPR: upcoming dates

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

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

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 08/10/2026CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins88% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 88%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better53 days agoThe figure comes from the Energy^[3] Department's weekly stocks data released on Monday 10 August 2026, as reported the same day.

  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.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  DOE Awards the Biggest Exchange in the SPR's Fifty Years

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 05/11/2026CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins92% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 92%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better144 days agoDOE's award announcement is dated 11 May 2026; the 92.5-million-barrel solicitation it answers was issued on 30 April 2026.^[1]

  After soliciting up to 92.5 million barrels from all four storage sites - the largest single exchange in the reserve's history - DOE awarded contracts for 53.3 million on 11 May 2026, at a return premium of about 28 per cent. That is 15.1 million extra barrels owed back to the stockpile.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  West Hackberry Lends 26 Million Barrels of Sweet Crude

  West Hackberry Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Hackberry, Cameron Parish, LA 70645, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 04/17/2026CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins88% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 88%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better168 days agoDOE's award announcement is dated 17 April 2026; the solicitation it answers was issued on 9 April 2026.^[1]

  DOE had asked for up to 30 million barrels of sweet crude from West Hackberry on 9 April 2026; eight days later it awarded contracts for 26 million of them, with deliveries starting at once. By then more than 10 million barrels of the wider exchange had already reached the market.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Bryan Mound Lends Out Another 10 Million Barrels

  Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve, 1900 Bryan Mound Road, Freeport, Brazoria County, TX 77541, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 04/01/2026CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins88% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 88%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better184 days agoDOE's press release announcing the RFP is dated 1 April 2026 and sets the bid deadline at 11:00 a.m. CT on Monday 6 April 2026.^[1]

  DOE went back to the market on 1 April 2026 for a third exchange, this one drawn entirely from the Bryan Mound caverns outside Freeport, Texas. Bidders had until the following Monday, and a limited Jones Act waiver let them move the crude on foreign-flagged ships to get it to refiners faster.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  DOE Puts 86 Million Barrels Up for Exchange at Once

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 03/13/2026CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins92% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 92%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better203 days agoDOE's press release announcing the RFP is dated 13 March 2026 and gives the bid deadline of 5:00 p.m. CT on 17 March 2026.^[1]

  The first tranche of the 172-million-barrel release went out as a request for proposals on 13 March 2026, covering 86 million barrels from Bryan Mound, West Hackberry and Bayou Choctaw. Bids were due the following Tuesday, and the borrowers must hand the oil back with extra barrels on top.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Trump Orders 172 Million Barrels Out as Hormuz Chokes

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 03/11/2026CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins88% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 88%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better205 days agoDOE's press release carries Secretary Wright's statement and is dated 11 March 2026, the day the IEA agreed the collective release.^[1]

  Thirty-two IEA member nations agreed on 11 March 2026 to release 400 million barrels between them after Iranian attacks slowed tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The American share was 172 million barrels, the largest US release ever ordered, and Secretary Wright said it would take about 120 days to deliver.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Biden Starts the Largest Drawdown in the Reserve's History

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 03/01/2022CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins88% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 88%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better4.6 years agoDOE's press release is dated 1 March 2022, the day the President authorised the release; the notice of sale followed on 2 March.^[1]

  Four days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden ordered crude out of the SPR as the US share of an IEA release of 60 million barrels. It did not stop there: by that summer 180 million barrels had gone, the biggest emergency sale the reserve had ever made, and it left the stockpile at levels not seen since the 1980s.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  The IEA's Libya Action Sells 30.6 Million Barrels of SPR Crude

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 06/23/2011CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins90% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 90%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better15.3 years agoSecretary Chu announced the coordinated release on 23 June 2011 and the notice of sale followed the next day; DOE's update of 30 June reports the bidding.^[1]

  With Libyan production off the market, the International Energy Agency put 60 million barrels into it on 23 June 2011, and the US share came out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The auction was heavily oversubscribed: more than 90 offers came in for 30.2 million barrels of light sweet crude, and 15 companies took delivery.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Katrina Empties 11 Million Barrels From the Reserve

  Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve, 1900 Bryan Mound Road, Freeport, Brazoria County, TX 77541, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 09/02/2005CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins88% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 88%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better21.1 years agoDOE dates the President's Finding of a Severe Energy^[2][3] Supply Interruption to 2 September 2005; the White House fact sheet announcing the 30-million-barrel release is dated the next day.

  Hurricane Katrina shut in about half of US domestic oil production and knocked out refineries and import terminals, so on 2 September 2005 President Bush found a severe energy supply interruption and ordered a sale. DOE offered 30 million barrels and sold 11 million; the first oil left Bryan Mound on 26 September.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Desert Storm Triggers the SPR's First Emergency Drawdown

  James Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  01/16/1991 - 04/03/1991CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins87% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 87%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better35.7 years agoDOE dates the authorisation to Bush's address of 16 January 1991 and the last of the 17.3 million barrels to 3 April 1991; the pin's exclusive end is the following midnight UTC.^[1]

  Hours after announcing allied air attacks on Iraq, President Bush ordered the first emergency sale in the reserve's history. The Energy Department released its sales notice on 17 January 1991 and eventually sold 17.3 million barrels to 13 companies, half of what it offered: bids for sour crude came in too low to accept.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  The First 412,000 Barrels Go Underground at West Hackberry

  West Hackberry Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Hackberry, Cameron Parish, LA 70645, United StatesUS Department of Energy

  

  Starts 07/21/1977CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins90% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 90%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better49.2 years agoDOE's own 40th-anniversary piece gives the day: "On July 21, 1977, the SPR received its first oil delivery."^[1]

  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve took its first delivery on 21 July 1977: about 412,000 barrels of Saudi Arabian light crude, pumped into salt caverns near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Construction had started that April, when the government bought up existing caverns along the Gulf Coast rather than wait to dig its own.

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• Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk

  Ford Signs the Law That Creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

  White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20500, United StatesThe White House

  

  Starts 12/22/1975CONFIRMEDDate confidence: CONFIRMEDStated as firmHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all CONFIRMED pins92% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 92%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 3 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 75% confidence or better50.8 years agoThe American Presidency Project dates Ford's signing statement to 22 December 1975, and the Act itself is P.L. 94-163, enacted that day.^[1]

  Two years after the Arab oil embargo, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act set up a federal emergency oil stockpile and gave the President the power to order it sold when supply is severely interrupted. Ford called the bill imperfect but signed it anyway, to end "the long debate over national energy policy".

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