The Biden-Harris administration is boasting that it has "secured" back the oil it drained from the country's emergency reserves in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But in reality, the reserve's supply remains just slightly above record lows and isn't on track to be fully replenished until the early 2030s, leaving the United States vulnerable to future energy crises.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced on July 29 that the Department of Energy had repurchased a total of 43 million barrels of oil and canceled future sales on another 140 million, meaning the Biden-Harris administration had "secured the 180 million barrels back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve released in response to Putin’s war in Ukraine." That total doesn't include drawdowns of 30 million barrels that President Joe Biden ordered in November 2021 and again in March 2022 to combat high prices at the pump.
The Hill, in response, reported that the Biden-Harris administration had "replenished the 180 million barrels of oil" from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and Granholm stated months earlier that the reserve would "be at or exceeding the level prior" to the administration's 180-million-barrel drawdown by the end of 2024.
But the 140 million barrels weren't directly repurchased. Instead, the department said it merely canceled future sales that were scheduled through 2027 and mandated by law, meaning the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is still missing the 140 million.
And although the Department of Energy said it had purchased upwards of 40 million barrels to replenish the reserve, as of Monday, the reserve has only increased by 29.1 million barrels from its low recorded in July 2023, according to the Energy Information Administration. That increase represents just 12 percent of the total amount Biden ordered to be withdrawn from the reserve in 2021 and 2022.
By repurchasing just a portion of the oil sold, the administration appears to be content leaving the reserve at a far lower volume than normal for the foreseeable future, leaving the nation vulnerable to future energy crises.
The administration's plans for additional direct direct purchases remain unclear. At its current pace, it would take the Department of Energy more than eight years before the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is fully replenished to its 2021 level.
The strategy to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—coupling some direct purchases with a large number of canceled future sales—comes as Republican lawmakers and energy experts continue to press it over its handling of the reserve.
"Under the Biden administration, the SPR has been abused for political purposes to try and bring down record high gasoline prices that are driving record high inflation that are a consequence of the administration’s radical rush to 'green' energy policies," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R., Wash.), the chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee, wrote to Granholm in May.
"We urge you, in the strongest terms, to put this country’s energy security first and stop abusing the SPR for political purposes," they continued. "As the Secretary of Energy, it is your responsibility to ensure that the SPR is ready to respond to true energy supply disruptions."
Overall, the current level of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is 376.5 million barrels, down 41 percent compared to its level of 638.1 million barrels recorded in January 2021 when Biden took office. The president's actions took the reserve down to its lowest levels since August 1983, shortly after the reserve had been established by Congress as a mechanism to bolster energy security.
While the Department of Energy has been required over the last decade to incrementally sell oil stocks to boost federal revenue, the administration worked with Democrats to include a provision in the 2023 Ukraine aid package, enabling it to cancel certain future sales to reduce the "technical burden" on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve system. That bill was approved largely along partisan lines in December 2022 as part of a larger $1.7 trillion government funding package.
The Department of Energy didn't respond to a request for comment.