The United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve stood at 357.1 million barrels at the close of the reporting week ended May 29, making it the lowest recorded level since January 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly Petroleum Status Report released on Wednesday.
Energy companies have been drawing crude from the reserve for ten consecutive weeks, the first time the SPR has experienced such an uninterrupted withdrawal streak since July 2023. The pattern of sustained withdrawals continued in the most recent week, when roughly 8.0 million barrels were removed from inventory.
That 8.0 million-barrel withdrawal for the week ended May 29 represents a decline in the pace of removals compared with the two prior weeks. During the week ended May 22, withdrawals totaled 9.1 million barrels, and the week ended May 15 saw a record removal of 9.9 million barrels from the reserve.
The EIA report released on Wednesday provides the official weekly counts and highlights the ongoing run of draws. The agency's weekly Petroleum Status Report is the source of the inventory totals and the sequential withdrawal figures reported for the three most recent weeks.
Context and detail
The data in the weekly report show a step-down in the volume removed in the latest week compared with the exceptional withdrawals recorded in mid-May. The ten-week span of withdrawals noted in the report marks a continuation of activity in the reserve that the EIA has not recorded in a single uninterrupted stretch since July of last year.
What the report states
- The SPR level was 357.1 million barrels for the week ended May 29.
- Approximately 8.0 million barrels were withdrawn during that week.
- Withdrawals amounted to 9.1 million barrels in the prior week ended May 22 and reached a high of 9.9 million barrels for the week ended May 15.
- The information is taken from the EIA's weekly Petroleum Status Report released on Wednesday.
Reporting limitations
The weekly EIA release provides the inventory levels and week-by-week withdrawal volumes cited above. The report does not, within the information cited here, provide additional explanation for the drivers behind the withdrawals or projections for future inventory levels. Where the report is silent, this article does not infer causes or future outcomes beyond the numbers reported.