Aging infrastructure and low inventory of records could weaken future crisis response, GAO says
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is at increasing risk of failing to respond adequately to future energy crises because of aging infrastructure and short-recorded inventories, the Government Accountability Office has warned.
The US Congress created the SPR in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo to provide the US with emergency protection against major supply disruptions. The reservoir, which in theory could store more than 700 million barrels of crude oil in underground salt caverns along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana, has been hit hard in recent years.
The report, made public by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) earlier this week, found that by December 2025, the SPR’s oil removal capacity had declined to about 61% of original design capacity, while replenishment capacity reached 56%. More than a quarter of the oil stored in the reservoir was temporarily unavailable due to construction work and cave-ins.
The emergency stockpile has provided more than 500 million barrels of crude oil since 1985, with nearly 70% of that amount drawn down between 2014 and 2025. The emergency withdrawal of 180 million barrels in 2022 following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine put the SPR’s capacity to the test.
In March 2026, the Department of Energy began releasing another 172 million barrels in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran that began in late February, which sent crude prices soaring and disrupted global oil supplies. As of late June, the SPR held just 325.7 million barrels, its lowest level since 1983.
The agency warned that the nation’s emergency stockpile may not be able to meet future curtailment orders if significant improvements are not made.
Most SPR infrastructure is more than four decades old. Many critical components, including pumps, pipes and valves installed when the reservoir was built in the late 1970s and 1980s, are now operating well beyond their intended service life.
“Investment in SPR is no longer compatible with the needs of the old age reserve,” Gao said, warning of “imminent operational constraints” caused by infrastructure wear and tear, maintenance backlog, and reduced operational capacity.
It also said the Department of Energy has not updated its long-term SPR strategy since 2016, despite major upheavals in global energy markets and repeated emergency cuts.
GAO highlighted the decade-long, $1.4 billion Life Extension Phase 2 project to upgrade aging SPR equipment, which has been plagued by delays and scope reductions. The current iteration of maintenance alone would cost nearly $230 million to address, according to DOE estimates from December 2025.
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