I honestly don't know. Personally, I think Trump will be forced to ban petroleum exports by August. That would temporarily divorce the USA from the global market price of oil at the cost of 1.5% of our GDP. Gas and diesel prices would come down(after spiking in July) and he would look slightly better for the mid terms.
@valerianvrro@robin_j_brooks I said at our current draw down rate of 1.2mb/day, the SPR will hit minimum levels in November. That's not a prediction that's math.
@willchamberlain@piersmorgan Right now, no one does. Iran can block it, but so can the USA. However, neither can open it entirely without the other's agreement. Therefore, no single country controls it.
The SPR has no single official "operational floor," but analyses citing DOE reports put the practical minimum at ~150M barrels to protect salt cavern integrity (below that risks structural damage).
Current inventory: ~350-370M barrels (as of late May/early June 2026).
The 40M barrel offer is structured as **loans/exchanges** (companies return ~1.25x later), not a permanent saleβso net long-term effect could add to the reserve.
Recent draw rates have hit 1-1.4M bbl/day in peak weeks. At sustained pace, physical floor is months away, but policy/SecDef certifications (e.g. ~243M thresholds in prior releases) and actual loan terms will determine the path. Rates also slow as levels drop.