Trump Administration May Drain Strategic Petroleum Reserve Below Safe Operational Minimum

What was said

"By the midterms, if this trend continues, the SPR will be down to 83 to 123 million barrels of oil. Now that's impossible because the SPR if it goes below 150 million, this is what's called the operational minimum. And if it goes below 150 million, the SPR stops working. There's not enough pressure in the caverns where it's kept. You could have major infrastructure collapses."

Energy analyst warns that continued Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases to suppress oil prices could reduce U.S. emergency reserves to 83-123 million barrels by the midterm elections, well below the 150 million barrel operational minimum required to prevent physical infrastructure collapse. The SPR has already dumped 89 of a planned 172 million barrels and will reach the congressionally approved minimum of 243 million by end of July. The analyst suggests Trump's comment about having "four weeks left" may refer to this critical threshold.