History of SPR Releases

Category: Operational Sale | Released Volume (MMbbl): 180.0

On March 1, 2022, Secretary Granholm announced that the U.S. and its partners in the International Energy Agency (IEA) would release a total of 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market.  The Secretary stated, " Today, I chaired an emergency ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency where the United States and 30 other member countries agreed to collectively release an initial 60 million barrels of oil from strategic petroleum reserves. This decision reflects our common commitment to address significant market and supply disruptions related to President Putin’s war on Ukraine."  Under the IEA's response measures guidelines, the United States' obligation was for 30 million barrels.

On March 2, 2022, DOE issued an emergency Notice of Sale to solicit competitive offers for the purchase of 30 million barrels of crude oil to be delivered by the end of May 2022.  DOE received over 109 bids that resulted in contracts with 7 companies for deliveries of 30,255,000 barrels.

On April 1, 2022, DOE issued a second emergency Notice of Sale to solicit competitive offers for the purchase of 30 million barrels of crude oil to be delivered by the end of July 2022. In total, DOE released  

On April 7, 2022, Secretary Granholm announced that the U.S. and the IEA would release additional barrels to combat the war on Ukraine.  The Secretary stated, “The United States is proud to join the 30 other Member Countries of the IEA to once again unite in response to Vladimir Putin’s war of choice. In total, DOE released 180 million barrels of crude oil into the market.

Category: Operational Sale | Released Volume (MMbbl): 30.6

On June 23, 2011, Secretary Chu announced that the U.S. and its partners in the International Energy Agency (IEA) would release a total of 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market.  The Secretary stated, "We are taking this action in response to the ongoing loss of crude oil due to supply disruptions in Libya and other countries and their impact on the global economic recovery."  Under the IEA's response measures guidelines, the United States' obligation was for 30 million barrels.

The SPR issued a Notice of Sale on June 24, 2011, to solicit competitive offers for the purchase of 30 million barrels of sweet crude oil to be delivered by the end of August 2011.  DOE received over 90 offers that resulted in 28 contracts with 15 companies for deliveries of 30,640,000 barrels.

Category: Operational Sale | Released Volume (MMbbl): 11.0

Hurricane Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico in late August 2005, causing extensive damage to oil production facilities, terminals, pipelines, and refineries.  All Gulf of Mexico production, which equates to about 50 percent of domestic production, was initially halted.  Additionally, import terminals were closed; some pipelines disrupted, and several refineries became inoperable.  Gasoline prices spiked nationwide due to these disruptions, impacting the supply levels of gasoline and other refined products.

In response, on September 2, 2005, President George W. Bush issued a Finding of a Severe Energy Supply Interruption as defined in section 161(d) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), 42 U.S.C. 6 241(d).  President Bush authorized and directed the Secretary of Energy to drawdown and sell crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a rate determined by Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman.

The U.S. Hurricane Katrina sale was part of a coordinated emergency response with the International Energy Agency (IEA), a coalition of 28 member countries that supports energy supply security through energy policy cooperation.  The IEA aimed to release 60 million barrels of crude oil and refined products to mitigate the impact of global supply disruptions while efforts were underway to restore operations of offshore production platforms, refineries, and other facilities.  During this period, IEA member nations supplied the U.S. with much needed gasoline and other products during this period.

On September 6, 2005, the Department of Energy announced a Notice of Sale, offering 30 million barrels of crude oil (15 million barrels each of sweet and sour).  The competitive sale was conducted on-line for the first time using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve's Crude Oil Sales Offer Program. Offers were due by 4:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time, September 9, 2005.

The results of the Hurricane Katrina sale were announced on September 14, 2005.  Of the 30 million barrels offered for sale, 14 offers requesting 19.2 million barrels (14.8 million barrels of sweet and 4.4 million barrels of sour) were received from seven companies.  The DOE evaluated each offer and determined that five companies had submitted successful offers for 11 million barrels.  Awards were made for delivery of 10.8 million barrels of sweet and 200 thousand barrels of sour crude oil.  The first oil delivery commenced on September 26, 2005, from the Bryan Mound site. 

The total U.S. response to Hurricane Katrina, considering both the emergency loans of 9.8 million barrels and the 11 million barrels of oil that was sold, amounted to 20.8 million barrels.

Category: Operational Sale | Released Volume (MMbbl): 17.3

On January 16, 1991, President Bush announced in a nationally televised address that U.S. and allied warplanes had begun attacks against Baghdad and other military targets in Iraq.  Simultaneously, the President announced that the United States would begin releasing a portion of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve stocks as part of an international effort to minimize world oil market disruptions.

Immediately following the President's address, Secretary Watkins directed the Energy Department to prepare for a drawdown of 33.75 million barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil, the proportional amount assigned to the United States under a coordinated emergency response plan drawn up by the International Energy Agency.  The oil was released over a 45-day delivery period. 

Operation Desert Shield had become Desert Storm, and the first emergency use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve had been authorized.

Less than 12 hours after the President's authorization, on January 17, 1991, the Energy Department released the crude oil sales notice, and on January 28, 1991, 26 companies submitted offers.

The rapid decision to release crude oil from government-controlled stocks in the United States and other OECD countries helped calm the global oil market, and prices began to moderate.  On January 30, 1991, the Energy Department accepted offers from 13 companies offering the best prices for 17.3 million barrels of Reserve oil.

The total volume sold during the Desert Storm drawdown was just over half the amount offered by the Government, primarily because industry offers for the higher-sulfur "sour" crude oil were substantially lower than bids for the lower-sulfur "sweet" crude.

"We clearly must remain sensitive to the market by making available the crude oil the industry is saying it really needs and not allowing bargain hunters to take advantage of the taxpayers," Watkins said in announcing his decision to accept only those offers that were above 97.5 percent of benchmark prices of comparable crude oils.

On February 5, 1991, the first crude oil in the emergency drawdown was delivered.

On February 23, 1991, allied ground forces moved into Iraq and Kuwait, and Hussein's troops began to pull back. Four days later, on February 27, President Bush ordered a cease fire, and on March 3^rd, Iraqi leaders formally accepted cease fire terms.  The Persian Gulf war was over.

World oil markets had remained remarkably calm throughout most of the war, due largely to the swift release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil in combination with other oil response measures taken around the world.  By April 3, 1991, the Energy Department had completed its contractual obligations, delivering the last of the 17.3 million barrels. 

In wrapping up the first-ever emergency drawdown the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Energy Secretary Watkins said, "We have sent an important message to the American people that their $20 billion investment in an emergency supply of crude oil has produced a system that can respond rapidly and effectively to the threat of an energy disruption."

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 1.8

 In response to the temporary shutdown of the Keystone pipeline, the SPR conducted an exchange of 1.8 MMbbl to ExxonMobil, Phillips 66 and Atlantic Trading & Marketing Inc. The exchange was conducted to address potential supply disruptions to areas affected by the temporary shutdown of the Keystone pipeline, which was caused by a leak in the pipeline, and mitigate refinery run cuts.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (Mmbbl): 29.52

In response to disruptions following the Covid – 19 Pandemic, DOE exchanged 29.52 MMbbl to Exxon, Marathon, Shell, ATMI, Chevron, Trafigura, Macquarie, BP, Phillips 66.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (Mmbbl): 3.3

Following Hurricane Ida, DOE provided a total of 3.3 MMbbl to ExxonMobil Baton Rouge to alleviate any logistical issues of moving crude oil within affected areas. 

Category: Reverse Exchange | Stored Volume (Mmbbl): --

Unlike all other exchanges, in this exchange, DOE received oil for temporary storage after prices collapsed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in a sharp drop in oil demand. DOE then provided the oil back to the companies in the fall after prices had recovered, minus a volume DOE kept as the cost of temporarily storing the oil.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 5.2

When Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the night of August 25, it was a Category 4 storm—the strongest hurricane to impact Texas in more than 50 years. The hurricane caused extensive damage, shutting down much of the Gulf regions oil refining capacity and leading to fuel shortages.   In response, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry authorized the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to initiate exchange agreements with affected refiners who requested emergency crude from the Reserve. Despite the evacuation of some SPR personnel, the Reserve continued to operate under emergency conditions and supplied much-needed oil to refiners.  By September 28, 5.2 million barrels of oil from the SPR had been delivered to Gulf Coast refineries, aiding their operations and preventing further supply disruptions.   All the oil was repaid, including premium barrels, by February 2018.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 1.00

In late August 2012, Tropical Storm Isaac entered the Gulf of Mexico and headed towards the Louisiana coast.  The storm shut down 95 percent of oil production in the Gulf and caused minor damage and delays to petroleum industry facilities in the region.  Marathon Petroleum Company requested an emergency loan of 1 million barrels to supplement Marathon's supplies to ensure sufficient supplies to refining operations.  The negotiated exchange contract required the oil to be repaid to the SPR in 3 months, including premium barrels.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 5.38

On September 1, 2008, Hurricane Gustav entered Louisiana west of New Orleans as a Category 2 hurricane. The storm disrupted the production of oil in the Gulf and damaged the petroleum industry infrastructure necessary to receive, process and distribute crude oil and product. The Secretary of Energy announced that DOE would favorably consider requests for releases of crude oil from the SPR to supply refineries that remained operational.  The SPR releases would be executed using the Secretary's emergency test exchange authority.  The first request was received on September 2nd and was quickly approved.  Additional requests followed and were also approved. 

The first delivery began on September 9, 2008.  As the SPR continued to review requests for emergency loans and deliver oil following Hurricane Gustav, the Nation was watching the progress of Hurricane Ike as it moved towards the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

Hurricane Ike made landfall near Galveston, Texas as a Category 2 hurricane on September 13, 2008, before the petroleum industry had recovered from Hurricane Gustav.  Hurricane Ike devastated the region along the northeastern coast of Texas and southwestern Louisiana. 

Despite sustaining facility damage as well as loss of commercial power at some sites from both hurricanes, the SPR was able to make operational repairs quickly to deliver crude oil. Beginning in early September and continuing through October 16, 2008, a total of 5,389,000 barrels of SPR crude oil were delivered to five companies whose normal supplies had been interrupted to the point that the companies could continue to operate, refine the crude oil into products, and deliver those products to U.S. consumers.  Deliveries to Marathon, Placid, ConocoPhillips, Citgo, and Alon USA were completed from Louisiana's Bayou Choctaw and West Hackberry sites. 

Repayment to DOE of the quantity of crude oil loaned to the contractors, in addition to premium barrels negotiated as a condition of the loan, would occur January through May 2009.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 0.75

On June 21, 2006, the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Lake Charles, Louisiana was closed due to an oil spill, disrupting supplies to local refineries.    to prevent temporary shutdowns at ConocoPhillips and Citgo refineries the SPR loaned 750  thousand barrels of sour crude.  The loaned amount, plus premium barrels, was repaid in early October 2006.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 0.76

On January 17, 2006, a barge accident in the Sabine Neches ship channel resulted in the closure of the channel to deep-draft vessels, disrupting deliveries of crude oil to refiners in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area.  To avoid shut down or reduced runs at the Total Petrochemicals USA, Inc. refinery at Port Arthur, the SPR agreed to loan Total 767 thousand barrels of sour crude.  The loaned amount, plus premium barrels, was repaid in February 2006. 

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 11.00

In late August 2005 Hurricane Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 5 hurricane, causing massive damage to offshore oil production facilities.  The destruction continued when she made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005.  By the time she was finished, significant damage to production platforms, terminals, pipelines, and refineries had occurred, leaving many facilities inoperable for weeks - and some for several months.  

Immediately after learning of Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact, the Secretary of Energy approved six emergency requests for loans of crude oil from refiners whose scheduled deliveries had been disrupted.  Without the SPR loans, the refineries faced severe reductions in processing rates or shutdown of their operations.  The loans enabled them to continue refining crude oil into products such as gasoline, heating oil, and jet fuel for the Nation.  The terms of the loans required repayment of crude oil that meets the specifications of the SPR, including premium barrels to be paid to the Government.  The first oil delivery occurred on September 3, 2005, and continued in a series of batches through October, totaling 9.8 million barrels.  During Fall 2005, 4.2 million barrels of oil and accompanying premium barrels were repaid.  An additional 4.4 million barrels were repaid between February and May 2006, and the remaining 1.7 million barrels were repaid during the spring of 2007. 

The 9.8 million barrels of oil loaned under exchange agreements, combined with the 11 million barrels of oil sold, provided 20.8 million barrels of crude oil to U.S. refiners.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 5.40

Hurricane Ivan struck the Gulf of Mexico in mid-September 2004 and disrupted both Outer Continental Shelf production and import vessels delivering cargoes to Gulf terminals.  Most of the production shut in was in the fields east of Louisiana and was sweet oil used in refining gasoline and distillate products.  The Department of Energy received several emergency requests from refiners for assistance in securing supplies of crude oil adequate to avoid cutting back on refining operations.  To relieve their shortages, the SPR loaned a total of 5.4 million barrels of sweet crude oil to five companies (Placid Refining, Shell Trading, Conoco Phillips, Astra Oil, and Premcor).  The crude oil was delivered to the refiners during September and early October 2004.  By April 2005, the loaned oil had been repaid to the SPR, plus 233,924 premium barrels paid to the Government in return for the time-exchange.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 0.98

When Hurricane Lili disrupted normal commercial oil shipments into Gulf Coast distribution hubs in October 2002, a limited exchange of Strategic Petroleum Reserve was carried out to permit a major oil pipeline operator to continue critical crude shipments to refineries in Memphis and the Midwest.

The action began on September 30, when the Energy Department was informed that the Capline pipeline, a major interstate oil carrier that originates in Louisiana, might not be able to deliver needed oil supplies to customers, including the Williams refinery in Memphis, due to curtailments of incoming oil deliveries because of Hurricane Lili.  The Capline operator, Shell Pipeline Co. LP, was concerned that using oil stocks from its Sugarland terminal in St. James Parish, Louisiana, to keep the Capline pipeline flowing would cause stock levels in the tanks to drop below the safety threshold for protection against hurricane-force winds.

By October 1, Strategic Petroleum Reserve staff had worked out an arrangement with the Capline Pipeline System to temporarily relocate up to 296,000 barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve's Bayou Choctaw site to keep stocks in Shell's tanks at acceptable levels.  The SPR temporarily relocated a lesser amount of 98,000 barrels from the Bayou Choctaw site to the Capline tanks.  This allowed Shell to continue supplying oil to Williams and other refineries in the Midwest that rely on the Capline pipeline.

When commercial oil deliveries returned to normal the next week, Shell pumped the SPR crude back to the government's storage site.

Because the SPR oil sent to Shell displaced oil in a connecting pipeline that served the Placid Refinery in Port Allen, Louisiana, the crude oil returned SPR oil went directly to the Placid Refinery.  Under the exchange agreement, DOE received a comparable grade of replacement oil within 60 days plus premium barrels.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 32.84

With U.S. consumers facing the winter of 2000-01 with commercial heating oil stocks much lower than typical, the Clinton Administration on July 10, 2000, announced its intent to establish a Home Heating Oil Reserve.  The goal was to establish a 2-million barrel reserve to provide an emergency fuel source for consumers in the Northeast.  The heating oil was to be stored in aboveground tank farms leased from private companies (see Northeast Heating Oil Reserve).  To acquire the storage facilities and heating oil, the Energy Department offered to exchange crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

By the end of August 2000, the Department had contracts in place with three companies to provide the terminal capacity and with two companies to supply the heating oil.  To acquire the first-year use of storage facilities, the Department agreed to provide 117,667 barrels of crude oil to Equiva Trading Company, Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc., and Amerada Hess Corporation.  (After the initial year, the Administration began requesting direct appropriations to cover the costs of leasing commercial tank storage.)  To obtain the 2 million barrels of heating oil, the Department provided 2,718,000 barrels of crude oil to Equiva Trading Company and the Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc.  These companies offered the most favorable exchange terms to the government in an open competition.

Even with the establishment of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, low distillate inventories in the Northeast continued to alarm the Administration. On September 22, 2000, the President directed the Secretary of Energy to enter into time exchange agreements with oil companies for up to 30 million barrels of crude oil.  Under the exchange agreements, companies were to return a like quantity, plus a bonus percentage of similar crude oil, in the fall of 2001.

An initial group of offerors was selected on October 4, 2000. When two of the selected offerors could not provide the necessary financial guarantees, the Energy Department reissued a solicitation for 7 million barrels of crude oil on October 16, 2000, and awarded final contracts on October 24, 2000.

The average bonus percentage from these initial awards was 4.5 percent, for a total of 31.2 million barrels of exchange oil to be returned to the Reserve by a specified date.  However, market conditions in 2001 made it advantageous to the government to accept deferral of some of these deliveries until 2002 and 2003.  Companies scheduled to supply oil to the Reserve agreed to provide an additional 3.3 million barrels as a condition of allowing later deliveries, bringing the total amount of oil to be returned under the time exchange to 34.5 million barrels.

In December 2002, with oil supplies tightening due to the curtailment of exports from Venezuela, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham authorized the Department to accept further deferrals of the 5.3 million barrels that remained to be delivered.  The renegotiated delivery schedules resulted in an additional premium of 600 thousand barrels for delivery by early 2004, resulting in a total return volume of 35.1 million barrels.  No further deferrals were permitted, and the Exchange 2000 initiative is now completed.

Category: Emergency Exchange | Released Volume (MMbbl): 1.00

In June 2000, a commercial dry dock collapsed into the Calcasieu ship channel just north of the Intracoastal Waterway near Lake Charles, Louisiana.  The channel served as the primary route used by nearby CITGO and Conoco refineries, two of the largest in Louisiana. The blockage meant that both refineries faced production curtailments in a matter of days if crude oil could not be supplied to them.

In less than 30 hours after being approached by the companies, the Energy Department had planned to exchange oil from the Strategic Reserve to relieve the refineries' supply problems. On June 15, 2000, the Energy Department agreed to exchange 500,000 barrels from the Strategic Reserve's West Hackberry site with CITGO in return for an equivalent quantity, plus an exchange premium, of crude oil from the company after the shipping lanes were reopened. The next day, June 16, 2000, the Department reached an exchange agreement for the same amount with Conoco.  Crude oil from the Reserve began flowing to the refineries on June 18, 2000.

Within a week, the U.S. Corps of Engineers had reopened the shipping channel, and on July 29, CITGO delivered replacement crude oil back to the Reserve. On August 4, Conoco delivered an equivalent quantity of crude oil to the Reserve, completing the exchange.

Category: Emergency Exchange  | Released Volume (MMbbl): 11.00

During 1998, the Department conducted an exchange of the 11 million barrels of Maya crude oil stored at the Bryan Mound site for 8.5 million barrels of other higher value crude oil.

The Maya crude oil was acquired from Mexico in the early 1980s, as part of a purchase agreement between the Department and Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico's national oil company.  Since that time, the Maya has been segregated in a single cavern at Bryan Mound because its lower API gravity and greater sulfur content made it significantly different from the other inventory.  This had the effect of reducing the site's operational flexibility, efficiency, and drawdown capability during an energy emergency.

On August 13, 1998, the Reserve solicited offers to deliver crude oil which would meet the Reserve's quality specifications, in exchange for the Maya.  On August 27, 1998, the Reserve received offers from seven companies, and on August 28, an exchange contract was awarded to P.M.I. Norteamerico S.A. de C.V. of Houston, Texas. Subsequently, P.M.I. delivered a total of 8.5 million barrels of light sour Olmeca and Isthmus crude oils to Bryan Mound from October 1998 through early January 1999. In return, the Reserve transferred title of Maya ownership to P.M.I.; however, the Maya crude remained in the custody of the Reserve until October 1999.

This exchange decreased the Reserve's total inventory by about 2.5 million barrels, but because of the higher quality of the oil received in the exchange, it did not decrease the value of the inventory. Additionally, it benefited the Reserve by increasing the quantity of Bryan Mound's light sour crude oil stream and improved the site's storage and drawdown capabilities.

Category: Emergency Exchange  | Released Volume (MMbbl): 0.90

In late April 1996, the ARCO Pipe Line Company incurred an operational emergency when its 20-inch pipeline from the Texas Gulf Coast to Cushing, Oklahoma, became blocked by a waxy crude, interrupting its oil deliveries to the midcontinent. On May 3, 1996, under an emergency crude oil lease exchange agreement with the Seaway Pipeline Company, the Energy Department agreed to supply up to one million barrels of crude oil to enable the start-up of its Freeport-to-Cushing pipeline to continue the flow of oil to the midcontinent refineries, avoiding any refinery shutdown. Under the terms of the agreement, ARCO would pay the Government a fee, plus a future price differential for leasing the oil, and would replace the oil with an equivalent grade of crude within six months. Under this lease, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve delivered a total of 900,416 barrels of crude oil to the Seaway Pipeline System. All the oil was returned by November 25, 1996.