President Donald Trump has signaled that he is prepared to tap into America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve as oil prices surge during the escalating conflict with Iran. The move reflects the difficult balance facing the administration. The reserve exists primarily as an emergency safeguard for national security, yet rising energy prices are placing pressure on the White House to act quickly to stabilize markets and protect consumers from higher costs at the pump.
The recent spike in oil prices is closely tied to the conflict that began with Operation Epic Fury on February 28, a joint U.S. and Israeli military campaign targeting Iran. The fighting has shaken global energy markets because Iran sits near one of the most important oil transit routes in the world.
The Strait of Hormuz, located just off Iran’s coast, is a critical waterway through which roughly one fifth of the world’s oil supply typically passes each day. Iranian attacks on shipping and threats to block the strait have rattled markets and raised fears that global supplies could be disrupted.
As a result, oil prices surged sharply earlier this week, reaching nearly $120 per barrel before falling back to lower levels. By Wednesday evening Brent crude was trading at about $93 per barrel, roughly 1.16 percent above its opening price of $91.98.
Gasoline prices have also begun to rise across the United States. The national average has climbed from under $3.00 to about $3.58 per gallon after increasing for eleven consecutive days.
Trump acknowledged that the surge in energy prices is a direct consequence of the conflict in the region. Speaking to reporters during a visit to a Thermo Fisher Scientific facility, he described the increase as a predictable side effect of war.
“That’s just a matter of war, that happens,” Trump said. “You can almost predict it.”
Despite the volatility, the president expressed confidence that prices will eventually stabilize as conditions improve.
“I would say it went up a little bit less than we thought and it’s going to come down more than anybody understands,” he said.
To help stabilize the market in the meantime, the Trump administration is considering releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the administration plans to release approximately 172 million barrels of crude oil from the reserve beginning next week. The drawdown would take about 120 days to complete.
Trump explained that the goal of the release would be to temporarily increase supply and ease pressure on prices.
“Well, we’ll do that and then we’ll fill it up,” Trump said during an interview with a Cincinnati television station. “I filled it up once and I’ll fill it up again, but right now we’ll reduce it a little bit, and that brings the prices down.”
The planned release is also part of a broader international effort to calm energy markets. The International Energy Agency announced that its 32 member countries will collectively release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves. The group includes major economies such as the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
Officials say this coordinated action represents the largest release of emergency oil stockpiles in the organization’s history. The goal is to reassure markets that sufficient supplies remain available despite disruptions in the Persian Gulf.
Background
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve itself is the United States’ primary emergency stockpile of crude oil. The oil is stored deep underground in a network of massive salt caverns along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana.
Currently the reserve contains roughly 415 to 416 million barrels of crude oil, according to the Department of Energy. That means the reserve is less than 60 percent full.
The reserve was significantly reduced during the previous administration. Former President Joe Biden released nearly 300 million barrels from the reserve during his term in an effort to lower energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Those drawdowns pushed the stockpile to roughly 350 million barrels, the lowest level since 1983.
By contrast, Trump ended his first term with the reserve holding about 638 million barrels.
Since returning to office, Trump has pledged to rebuild the reserve and strengthen America’s energy security. In early 2025 he even declared a national energy emergency and promised to refill the reserve. However, the process has moved slowly because Congress has provided limited funding for new oil purchases. As a result, the stockpile has increased only about five percent since Trump returned to the White House.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is designed to deliver oil quickly during major supply disruptions. According to the Department of Energy, the system can release up to 4.4 million barrels per day within about thirteen days of a presidential order. Analysts note that the practical release rate may be closer to about two million barrels per day because of physical constraints in the infrastructure.
Even so, the planned release of 172 million barrels would be substantial. The United States consumes roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day, meaning the release represents the equivalent of nearly nine days of total domestic consumption spread over the four month delivery period.
The purpose of such a release is not to replace all lost supply but to ease market fears and put downward pressure on prices during a temporary disruption. Officials hope the additional oil will stabilize markets until shipping through the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal.
Energy Secretary Wright suggested that this may happen sooner rather than later.
“I think we will have the Straits of Hormuz open well before then,” Wright said. “Exactly when I can’t say, but we are working 24 hours of every day to get there.”
Still, the proposal highlights the difficult tradeoffs involved in managing the nation’s emergency oil stockpile. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was originally created to protect the United States during severe supply crises such as wars or embargoes. For that reason many analysts argue that it should be used sparingly and only for genuine emergencies.
At the same time, rising gasoline prices can quickly affect the entire economy and place intense pressure on any administration to act. Trump has tried to address both concerns by emphasizing that any oil released now would eventually be replaced.
“I filled it up once and I’ll fill it up again,” the president said.
For now, the administration’s approach reflects the challenge of navigating a volatile global energy market during a major international conflict while trying to keep prices manageable for American consumers.
FAM Editor: I understand the politics of the situation, but the strategic reserve is meant for actual shortages and dire emergencies. I hope this does not become the norm.
