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U.S. strategic petroleum reserves have fallen to their lowest level in more than four decades after Washington began releasing oil to offset global supply disruptions following U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
According to U.S. Energy Information Administration data compiled by Anadolu Agency, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell to 304.809 million barrels in the week of July 25-31, its lowest level since February 1983.
The decline comes under a program announced after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28 and disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz created a major supply shortage in global markets.
Following the attacks, disruptions through Hormuz affected about 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and petroleum product supplies, according to the report.
Pipelines in the Gulf compensated for part of the lost volumes, but a significant supply gap remained in international markets.
The International Energy Agency subsequently announced the largest coordinated strategic stock release in its history, saying member countries would make a combined 400 million barrels of oil available to the market.
As part of that effort, the U.S. Energy Department announced March 11 that it would release 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over a roughly 120-day period.
EIA data showed the first decline in U.S. strategic reserves after the attacks during the week of March 21-27.
The reserve stood at 415.442 million barrels during March 14-20 before falling to 304.809 million barrels by July 25-31.
That means 110.633 million barrels have been withdrawn since late March.
The latest level is below the 305.348 million barrels recorded during the week of Feb. 19-25, 1983, making it the lowest reserve level since that period, according to weekly EIA data dating back to August 1982.
The figures show that the full 172 million barrels announced under the strategic reserve release program have not yet been placed on the market.
If the remaining amount is released, U.S. strategic reserves are expected to fall to about 243 million barrels.
That would bring the stockpile to its lowest level since the EIA began publishing weekly data in 1982.
The U.S. ended last year with about 413 million barrels in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The reserve reached its historical peak in early 2010 at 726.617 million barrels.
Created after the oil crises of the 1970s, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stored at four facilities along the Gulf of Mexico and is intended to reduce the impact of unexpected disruptions to oil supplies.
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