US Plans Soon to Refill Strategic Oil Reserves

US President Donald Trump stated on Friday that the United States will soon proceed to refill its strategic oil reserves, without providing specific details regarding the operation's timing or the targeted quantities. These remarks were made during a political rally held in the city of Mobile, Alabama, where he emphasized that filling the reserves will happen very soon and without any cost. These statements aligned with comments Trump previously made in an interview with Time magazine, noting that Washington receives large quantities of oil from Venezuela and will soon replenish its national strategic reserves. These developments coincide with a drop in the US strategic oil inventory to approximately 284 million barrels, marking the lowest level since 1982 following extensive releases as an international response to energy market disruptions. In a related context, the US Energy Information Administration stated on September 9 that global oil inventories declined by about 400 million barrels during 2026, projecting continued decreases through the end of the year. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, established in 1975 following the Arab oil embargo in the wake of the 1973 October War, remains the largest emergency stockpile in the world with a maximum capacity of 714 million barrels distributed across salt caverns beneath the Gulf Coast, while current inventories cover only about 40 percent of its storage capacity amid escalating geopolitical tensions and a deepening global energy crisis.