U.S. oil reserves fall to 1982 levels

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve has fallen to 1982 levels. At the end of the week ended September 25, it was 283.8 million barrels. Such data was provided by the Ministry of Energy of the country.

Global oil reserves have been declining since early March. Then the President of the United States in the framework of an agreement with the International Energy Agency ordered to release 172 million barrels of oil from reserves. The reason for this was a sharp increase in commodity prices and supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The maximum level of US reserves was recorded in December 2009 - 727 million barrels. The lowest value, by contrast, was at the end of October 1982, when 283.3 million barrels of oil were in reserve. Now reserves are filled at about 40% of their maximum capacity.

The Strategic Reserve was established in 1975 following an Arab embargo that triggered the oil crisis. Its main task is to protect the United States from a sudden shortage of supplies. Oil is stored in huge underground salt domes in Texas and Louisiana.