19 million barrels🛢️
That's the entire cushion left in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
SPR sits at about 319.5 million barrels, the lowest since 1983
Estimated minimum operating level: around 300 million barrels
The gap between the 2: roughly 19 million barrels before hitting the floor
Refilling it back to historical norms could take years and tens of billions of dollars
Built after the 1973 oil embargo so the US would never get caught flat footed again.
We're close to finding out what happens if it does.
