The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has dropped to its lowest level since 1982, Department of Energy data this week showed, revealing the continued drawdown of emergency oil as the nation weathers a global energy shortage.
The reserve shrank by more than 3 million barrels of oil over the week ending on Aug. 28, the DOE said, leaving the stockpile at 286.6 million barrels or about 40% of overall capacity.
The largest global oil supply disruption on record has catapulted U.S. gasoline prices above $4 a gallon, rekindled inflation and helped set the stage for November's midterm elections.
I don't think most people know they are in salt. Or that they were built in 1977 and only designed to last about 25 years.
Or more importantly, and to what you said, they were designed for only about 6 draw downs. We are way past that. They were never meant to be used and filled over and over again.