REF - The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)

Some Wikipedia Facts on the U.S. Department of Energy's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR):

* The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an EMERGENCY Crude Oil 'Store' maintained by the United States Department of Energy via mostly underground crude oil storage facilities...the SPR is Exclusively a CRUDE OIL Reserve, it is not a stockpile of refined petrochemical products, such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene

* The SPR is the World's Largest Emergency crude oil supply with CAPACITY to hold up to 727 million barrels of oil (fyi, the 2nd largest emergency supply of petroleum is Japan's with a 2003 reported capacity of 579 million barrels)...The reserve is stored at four sites on the Gulf of Mexico...the SPR's facilities COST close to $4 Billion to construct

* The United States started the SPR in 1975 with the objective of minimizing severe supply disruptions after oil supplies were cut off by OAPEC (OPEC plus Egypt and Siria) during the 1973-1974 Oil Embargo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis)

* The current inventory is displayed on the SPR's web site. As of June 6th, 2008, the current inventory was 704.2 million barrels. At $130 a barrel, the SPR holds over $90 billion worth of Crude Oil...According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States imports a NET 12 million barrels of oil a day, so the SPR holds about 58 Days worth of Crude Oil Imports. (However, the maximum total withdrawal capability from the SPR is only 4.4 million barrels per day, making it a 160 + Days of Imported Supply)

* Between the U.S. government's SPR + supply estimates of the U.S. PRIVATE sector's 'protected' oil inventory, it is believed that the U.S. has about 115 days worth of 'protected' Crude Oil Imports Supply

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve

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* FYI, on May 16, 2008, the Department of Energy announced it was canceling its daily oil shipments (70,000 barrels a day) into the SPR beginning in July, 2008. The U.S. hopes a temporary halt to SPR stockpiling will increase available crude supplies on the market and thereby reduce the cost of oil.

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia