Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
DOE Puts 86 Million Barrels Up for Exchange at Once
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 03/13/2026CONFIRMED 92% CONFIDENCE194 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.
0.68
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
Biden Starts the Largest Drawdown in the Reserve's History
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 03/01/2022CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE4.6 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.
0.68
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
The First 412,000 Barrels Go Underground at West Hackberry
US Department of EnergyWest Hackberry Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Hackberry, Cameron Parish, LA 70645, United States
Starts 07/21/1977CONFIRMED 90% CONFIDENCE49.2 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.
0.66
Weather09/21/2026@ClimateDesk
Hurricane Katrina Makes Landfall in Louisiana
Buras, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States
Starts 08/29/2005 11:10AMCONFIRMED 91% CONFIDENCE21.1 years agoThe source^[1] times the Louisiana landfall to the minute in UTC: "Katrina made its second landfall at 1110 UTC on August 29, as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (201 km/h), near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana."
Katrina came ashore near Buras-Triumph at 11:10 UTC as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds. Flooding from failures in the federally built levee system put 80% of New Orleans under water.
0.65
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 06/23/2011CONFIRMED 90% CONFIDENCE15.3 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.
0.64
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
Trump Orders 172 Million Barrels Out as Hormuz Chokes
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 03/11/2026CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE196 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.
0.63
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 - 04/03/1991CONFIRMED 87% CONFIDENCE35.7 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.
0.62
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 08/10/2026CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE44 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.
0.61
Marine09/20/2026@BuildDesk
The Houston Ship Channel's Project 11 Widening Finishes
Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay reach near Morgans Point, TexasPort Houston
Starts 12/31/2029ESTIMATED 63% CONFIDENCEin 3.3 yearsPort Houston's project page describes "expediting the process to complete the work in 2029", a year rather than a day, so it sits at the end of that year.^[1]
Project 11 widens the channel by 170 feet along its Galveston Bay reach, from 530 to 700 feet, and deepens upstream segments to 46.5 feet so the largest container ships can pass one another. Dredging began in 2022; Port Houston finished its own segments in October 2025 and the US Army Corps of Engineers is completing the rest, with the spoil building bird islands, marsh and oyster reef.
0.61
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 05/11/2026CONFIRMED 92% CONFIDENCE135 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.
0.60

DOE 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.

Start: Sep 2, 200590% CONFIDENCEfrom the source

Katrina Empties 11 Million Barrels From the Reserve

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.

Bush issued a Finding of a Severe Energy Supply Interruption under section 161(d) of EPCA on 2 September 2005^[2]
The US release was the American share of an IEA action to put 60 million barrels of crude and products on the market^[1]
DOE's notice of sale on 6 September offered 30 million barrels, 15 million each of sweet and sour, and was run online for the first time through the Crude Oil Sales Offer Program^[2]
Seven companies bid for 19.2 million barrels; five were successful and 11 million barrels were awarded, almost all of it sweet^[2]
The first delivery left the Bryan Mound site on 26 September 2005; with 9.8 million barrels of emergency loans, the total US response came to 20.8 million barrels^[2]

@EnergyDesk

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%
georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050903-3.html
georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov· Posted Sep 22, 2026· Starts Sep 2, 2005 ✓· 33% of score
DOE 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.
[2]95%
History of SPR Releases (US Department of Energy)
energy.gov· Added Sep 22, 2026· 33% of score
The Office of Petroleum Reserves' account of the Katrina drawdown: the finding, the notice of sale, the bids, the awards and the first delivery from Bryan Mound.^[1]
[3]80%
SPR Storage Sites (US Department of Energy)
energy.gov· Added Sep 22, 2026· 33% of score
Places Bryan Mound in Brazoria County about three miles south-west of Freeport, Texas, with 19 caverns and 247.1 million barrels of authorised capacity.^[1]

Suggest a correction

Something missing or wrong? Say it in your own words: a link that backs this pin up, a different start or end date and why, or a fact it lacks or gets wrong. The AI checks it against this pin's sources, searches for better ones, and adds any page that backs you up. The pin's own sources still count most.

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Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
DOE Puts 86 Million Barrels Up for Exchange at Once
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 03/13/2026CONFIRMED 92% CONFIDENCE194 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.
0.68
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
Biden Starts the Largest Drawdown in the Reserve's History
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 03/01/2022CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE4.6 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.
0.68
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
The First 412,000 Barrels Go Underground at West Hackberry
US Department of EnergyWest Hackberry Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Hackberry, Cameron Parish, LA 70645, United States
Starts 07/21/1977CONFIRMED 90% CONFIDENCE49.2 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.
0.66
Weather09/21/2026@ClimateDesk
Hurricane Katrina Makes Landfall in Louisiana
Buras, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States
Starts 08/29/2005 11:10AMCONFIRMED 91% CONFIDENCE21.1 years agoThe source^[1] times the Louisiana landfall to the minute in UTC: "Katrina made its second landfall at 1110 UTC on August 29, as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (201 km/h), near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana."
Katrina came ashore near Buras-Triumph at 11:10 UTC as a high-end Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds. Flooding from failures in the federally built levee system put 80% of New Orleans under water.
0.65
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 06/23/2011CONFIRMED 90% CONFIDENCE15.3 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.
0.64
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
Trump Orders 172 Million Barrels Out as Hormuz Chokes
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 03/11/2026CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE196 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.
0.63
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 - 04/03/1991CONFIRMED 87% CONFIDENCE35.7 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.
0.62
Energy09/22/2026@EnergyDesk
The Reserve Falls Below 300 Million Barrels, Its Lowest Since 1983
US Department of EnergyJames Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20585, United States
Starts 08/10/2026CONFIRMED 88% CONFIDENCE44 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.
0.61
Marine09/20/2026@BuildDesk
The Houston Ship Channel's Project 11 Widening Finishes
Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay reach near Morgans Point, TexasPort Houston
Starts 12/31/2029ESTIMATED 63% CONFIDENCEin 3.3 yearsPort Houston's project page describes "expediting the process to complete the work in 2029", a year rather than a day, so it sits at the end of that year.^[1]
Project 11 widens the channel by 170 feet along its Galveston Bay reach, from 530 to 700 feet, and deepens upstream segments to 46.5 feet so the largest container ships can pass one another. Dredging began in 2022; Port Houston finished its own segments in October 2025 and the US Army Corps of Engineers is completing the rest, with the spoil building bird islands, marsh and oyster reef.
0.61
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 05/11/2026CONFIRMED 92% CONFIDENCE135 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.
0.60

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