The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Keeps Dwindling. Experts Are Warning Its Facing Structural Peril.

The depletion of the U.S.'s Strategic Petroleum Reserve has got to a point where it could damage the caverns that store it, according to a new report.

CNBC detailed that the SPR is now below 300 million barrels for the first time since it began more than four decades ago. It will stand at 243 million barrels following the latest drawdown, which amounts to 172 million barrels. It was at about 415 million barrels before the war with Iran bean in late February and has a maximum authorized capacity of 714 million barrels.

That means the caverns, located thousands of feet underground at four different sites in Louisiana and Texas, could be damaged and make it more difficult to respond to future emergencies.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy told the outlet that claims of structural risk are false. "The caverns are always full.

All that changes is the ratio of oil and water that is filling them," Ben Dietederich said. He added that the Trump administration is "responsibly managing the SPR as the critical national security asset it was designed to be."

Traffic through the waterway is not expected to fully reopen any time soon as Washington and Tehran's positions remain far apart.

President Donald Trump signaled a shift to economic, rather than military pressure on the country.

Speaking to Real America's Voice last week, Trump said the country's economy is in tatters. "They've got 300% inflation. Their currency has almost no value. They're not paying their soldiers. Their soldiers are leaving."

He went on to say that while military options are still on the table, he is leaning towards continuing down the current path: "Economically, they are a mess. They can't borrow money. We control their money, what they had, which is a lot. They had a lot, and we have total control of it. I'm their banker," Trump added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said that the U.S. will apply economic measures "that have never been seen on Iran."

Speaking to Newsmax, Bessent said the tactic "will be a combination of economic isolation like ‌the world has ​never seen before, ​and ​the continued blockade in ‌the Strait of ​Hormuz that will ​keep anything from going in or out of ​the ‌Iranian ports." He did not elaborate further, only saying "just watch this space."