US oil reserves depleted amid Iran conflict, Strait of Hormuz closure

Added: 2026-06-07

[00:00:00]going conflict with Iran has caused the United States to draw down oil from its strategic petroleum reserves. As national correspondent Matt Galco reports, experts warn the levels are getting dangerously low.

[00:00:19]>> America is currently draining its oil reserves to historically low levels because of the ongoing conflict with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:00:27]>> The strategic reserve is probably just about a week or two away from reaching its lowest level since 1983.

[00:00:34]>> GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, Patrick DeHaan, says the United States agreed early on in the war to release and export reserves along with other countries in an effort to keep oil prices down globally. The reserves currently sit around 357 million barrels, nearly 60 million barrels less than it was before the start of the war.

[00:00:54]It could put the US in a bind if another emergency comes up.

[00:00:57]>> And there's just no telling what the next crisis could be beyond this, but the US is going to have a significantly curtailed ability to insulate itself from any future supply shocks with a strategic reserve that is approaching the lowest level since it was filled up.

[00:01:14]>> The numbers are approaching the low point of Joe Biden's presidency when his administration tapped into the reserves after Russia invaded Ukraine and sent gas prices soaring. The decision became an attack point for Republicans, including when President Trump announced his bid for another run at the White House in 2022.

[00:01:31]>> Now that the strategic national reserves, which I filled up, have been virtually drained in order to keep gasoline prices lower just prior to the election.

[00:01:42]>> Analysts believe that tapping the reserves for the Iran war prevented oil prices from reaching $150 a barrel, but as supplies dwindle, problems mount and Americans are still frustrated that gasoline prices are up overall. Reserves can't be tapped forever, with the Trump administration continually promising price relief is coming.

[00:02:01]>> They're much lower here than elsewhere, but we want them lower everywhere, and we certainly want them lower in the United States, and those days are coming.

[00:02:09]>> The latest agreement to draw down oil reserves was structured as an exchange, according to the Energy Department.

[00:02:14]Basically, an oil loan that's expected to be paid back by companies with even more oil than what's being released at a later date, in 2027. Reporting in Washington, I'm Matt Gallop.