Why the US buried millions of barrels of oil underground

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]did not wait for the next crisis to act.

[00:00:03]In December 1975, lawmakers passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, [music] creating the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

[00:00:12]Deep beneath the Gulf Coast, engineers [music] began carving out salt caverns, massive underground vaults designed to hold hundreds of millions [music] of barrels of oil.

[00:00:23]Treasury Secretary William Simon described the reserve as a national insurance policy, a buffer against [music] future supply shocks.

[00:00:34]By the end of the decade, the reserves four sites, Crawford, Bryan, Andrews, and West Hackberry, >> [music] >> stood ready to absorb the next geopolitical tremor.

[00:00:46]At the same time, the federal government turned its attention to the vehicles [music] Americans drove.

[00:00:52]The new corporate average fuel economy standards [music] set a minimum of 18 miles per gallon for cars.

[00:01:00]For the first time, Detroit's automakers were forced to retool [music] assembly lines, trading horsepower for efficiency.

[00:01:08]The response was swift and visible.

[00:01:10][music] Imports of Japanese cars, compact, fuel-efficient, and reliable, >> [music] >> jumped from 12% of the US market in 1975 >> [music] >> to 23% by 1980.

[00:01:25]The Big Three watched their combined share shrink as buyers lined up for Toyotas, Hondas, and Datsuns.

[00:01:34]Parking lots filled with smaller cars, and the era of the V8 sedan faded into memory.