US Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday that the repeated releases of crude oil by President Joe Biden from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have caused the national stockpile to fall to its lowest level in over 30 years.

In the interview with Fox News on the domestic energy policy of the Biden administration, Stewart noted that during 2022, the administration released over 40% of the Strategic Reserve (180 million barrels), as it sought to contain rapidly rising fuel prices.

He pointed out that, “Originally, the strategic petroleum reserve was designed to address disruptions in the crude supply but not necessarily the high prices.”

Stewart cited historical data showing that before 2022, the biggest release the nation had seen was a 31 million barrel draw-down during the 1991 war in Iraq, Operation Desert Storm. Then in 2005, President George W. Bush released 30 million barrels during the disaster from Hurricane Katrina. He added, “But 12 months ago, the administration initiated the largest drawdown in our history because they needed to get through an election cycle…”

Stewart explained that the refiners in the US need heavy sour crude, which the nation has relied on for decades. However right now the nation’s producers are primarily producing light sweet crude, which is why so much of our nation’s production is being exported overseas.

Speaking of the government’s plans to replenish the emergency reserve, Stewart said, “They just need 168 million more to get us back up to the 2021 levels and another 300 million or so to fill it up. So, it’s going to be very expensive and take a long time.”

He concluded that by reducing the strategic reserves, the administration has created a significant risk to our national security.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established as an emergency stockpile of crude oil by the US Department of Energy following the 1973-1974 oil embargo by Arab members of the OPEC producers group.