US crude reserves at 20-year low
The US' stockpile in petroleum reserves is at its lowest level in 20 years as the Biden administration continues to make withdrawals.
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Crude oil storage tanks at a refinery in Texas City, Texas, in April 2020 (New York Times)
The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) data revealed on Wednesday that the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve's (SPR) stockpile is at its lowest level in 20 years.
The Biden administration is still making withdrawals from the SPR to feed a market starved for supply, with SPR inventories at 550 million barrels as of the week that ended on April 29.
Three million barrels have been taken out on average from the SPR on a weekly basis over the past two months to allow domestic refiners' demand for crude to be met.
Western sanctions on Russia, which have been increasing ever since the war on Ukraine began on February 24, have impeded oil supply deliveries around the world from one of the world's largest producers.
“The SPR stock situation is likely to continue dropping in the foreseeable future unless the global supply situation for oil gets better,” John Kilduff, a partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital, said.
The first major SPR withdrawal was authorized by Biden in November with oil supplies tightening as demand recovered rapidly from Covid lockdowns. However, the largest SPR releases will begin in April, with a total of 180 million barrels being issued from the reserves, with another 60 million due to be released by US allies.
