August 13, 2026 [ The Globe & Mail ]- U.S. SPR stocks are at their lowest since 1983, with deteriorating infrastructure making roughly a quarter unavailable and accessible volumes covering only ~40 days of the gap.
Global oil stocks face a critical test amid the prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict, the largest cumulative supply disruption on record (2.6 billion barrels lost, or ~25 days of pre-war demand), with a daily gap estimated at 5 million bpd (potentially higher from Gulf and other disruptions).
IEA emergency stocks total ~1.5 billion barrels (government + commercial), enough for ~300 days of the gap, but only ~0.9 billion in releasable government stocks—covering just 180 days—while commercial inventories cannot be ordered released.
U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve stocks are at their lowest since 1983, with deteriorating infrastructure making roughly a quarter unavailable and accessible volumes covering only ~40 days of the gap.
Diesel and jet-fuel inventories sit at the bottom of their five-year range, exacerbated by war damage to Middle Eastern and Russian petroleum refineries that has particularly hit middle-distillate supply.
China’s large (estimated 1.0–1.7 billion barrel) crude holdings provide a stronger buffer, potentially covering nearly a year of its pre-war Strait of Hormuz imports, highlighting uneven global resilience in storage and supply chains.
Read the full story on The Globe & Mail.
