The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was supposed to stay full. That was the plan.
Then it ran dry.
Now, President Donald Trump has a new path forward. He announced a deal on Friday to bring in Venezuelan oil. This move aims to refill the empty reserve and lower gas prices for families.
Trump called it the “biggest oil deal in the world” in a statement reported by The Daily Caller. He said his team secured more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves. This follows the arrest of former dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Trump made his position clear on Sunday. He doubled down on the need to fix the shortage.
“One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuela Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves,” Trump said, “which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied.”
He added that the refill process starts soon. “The ‘topping out’ process will begin very shortly, and is a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States,” he said.
Trump credited his team for the success. When announcing the deal, he stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, collaborating with the Interim President of Venezuela and via a private business partnership, secured majority U.S. control over more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, costing the American Taxpayer nothing.
The history of this reserve shows how big the gap really is. After the 1973 Arab oil embargo, 28 countries agreed to keep 90 days of imports on hand. The U.S. built the SPR to meet this goal.
By 1977, the reserve held 589 million barrels. It grew to 700 million barrels by the turn of the millennium. The all-time high came in April 2011 at 726.5 million barrels.
For years, the reserve only saw small drops during price spikes. That changed under former President Joe Biden. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he authorized the release of nearly 200 million barrels of crude oil.
The deal greatly increases the oil supply and will substantially lower gas prices for all Americans, long into the future.
High prices have been a roadblock for Republicans in the upcoming midterms. Domestic gas costs are a major worry for voters. The deal promises to end that worry.
