Depleted strategic oil reserve nears level that raises concerns about damage to caverns, operations

Livestream Menu The rapid drawdown of the U. Strategic Petroleum Reserve could damage the caverns that store the oil, experts warn. The SPR has tumbled below 300 million barrels for the first time since it was filled in the early 1980s, according to federal data released this week. The SPR faces elevated risks to its operations and cavern integrity as inventories continue to drop. VIDEO8:3108:31 Amos Hochstein on the Iran war’s impact on energy: Oil prices are not reflecting reality Squawk Box The caverns that hold the U. S. strategic oil reserves could get damaged , experts warned this week as inventories hit a four-decade low. Damage to the caverns would make it more difficult to respond to future energy emergencies, the experts said. The oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is stored at 60 salt caverns thousands of feet underground at four major sites along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Texas. The SPR has tumbled below 300 million barrels for the first time since it was filled in the early 1980s, according to Department of Energy data released Monday. Inventories are depleting as the U. S. releases 172 million barrels in response to the supply disruption caused . The SPR will sit at around 243 million barrels after the drawdown is finished. The Energy Department has said at least 70 million barrels must remain in the reserve to safely manage the caverns. Amos Hochstein, a senior energy advisor to President Joe Biden, disputed that figure this week. "Don't believe the people out of the government that are saying the SPR can go to 70 million barrels. It's nonsense," Hochstein told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday. At that level, the reserve would be depleted to "the point of never resurrecting it," he said. Depleting the reserve below 300 million barrels risks damage to the caverns, the former Biden administration official warned in June. "I don't know anyone who believes we can go below 300," Hochstein told CNBC's Brian Sullivan at an Atlantic Council event. "I know plenty of people who think we can't get near 300 because physically you will damage the caverns where the oil is stored." Energy Department spokesman Ben Dietderich said claims that the SPR's storage caverns are at risk of collapse as oil is drawn down are false. "The caverns are always full. All that changes is the ratio of oil and water that is filling them," Dietderich told CNBC in a statement. The Trump administration is "responsibly managing the SPR as the critical national security asset it was designed to be," he said.