Bloomberg Surveillance · Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Stephen Shulker warns that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is at critically low levels, with only about 14 weeks of import cover remaining. He predicts that by the second quarter of the next year, especially with increased demand, the SPR will reach dangerously low levels.
“So at our current rate, at some point in the new year, we're going to be at a level that, look, we're already at a level that we only have about 14 weeks worth of import cover left in the SPR.”
“At the start of the war, we had 30 weeks. So we've halved our import. cover of the SPR since March. So, by certainly by the second quarter of next year, when demand kicks in going into the summer, we are going to be at significantly dangerous levels with the remaining barrels sitting left in the SPR.”