Siddharth Misra Warns of Potential Structural Damage to U.S. Oil Reserves as Inventories Hit 40-Year Low
Petroleum engineering professor Siddharth Misra warned this week that the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) faces potential structural damage as inventories drop below 300 million barrels for the first time since the 1980s. The current drawdown, triggered by the Iran war, will leave the reserve at approximately 243 million barrels. Misra noted that while 70 million barrels is the physical minimum, the practical operational floor is between 250 million and 300 million barrels. Below this level, the reserve loses its ability to pump oil at high speeds and risks structural cave-ins as thinning oil layers allow sludge to reach the intake pipes. Department of Energy data confirms the current low, but officials rejected claims of imminent collapse. Energy Department spokesman Ben Dietderich stated that the administration was responsibly managing the SPR as a critical national security asset. However, the Government Accountability Office has noted that repeated cycles of extraction and refilling have weakened the salt caverns' long-term viability. Experts suggest that if the reserve falls below 170 million barrels, further draws may become difficult due to infrastructure limitations.