U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve exports hit a record high, with 90% flowing to Europe.

The Iran war has triggered unprecedented supply disruptions, making U.S. emergency crude oil a key buffer for the global market.

The global energy market is relying on the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as never before to fill the supply gap caused by the Iran war. So far this year, the volume of U.S. SPR crude oil exports has surpassed the record set during the Russia-Ukraine war four years ago, marking the severity of the current supply shock.

According to customs data compiled by Kpler, nearly 22 million barrels of SPR crude have flowed to overseas markets so far this year. The large export volume reflects the deep impact brought on by the near-shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz—about one out of every three barrels released from storage is being exported.

The release process is not yet complete. The Trump administration is still proceeding with the planned release of the full 172 million barrels as part of a larger coordinated action by the International Energy Agency (IEA), aimed at collectively offsetting the impact of the Iran war on the global energy market.

However, as exports continue to ramp up, concerns over U.S. domestic energy security are also rising.

About 90% of exported crude oil flows to Europe

In terms of export destinations, European buyers hold an absolute majority. About 90% of exported crude oil goes to Europe, with the Netherlands as the main destination, and refiners in Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey appearing for the first time on the buyer list.

Meanwhile, at least one cargo has sailed to Asia—a supertanker, Arosa, loaded with 1.2 million barrels of Bryan Mound Sour crude, with the destination listed as Bataan, Philippines.

This pattern indicates that, after Middle Eastern crude supply was disrupted by the Iran war, European refiners were hit the hardest and turned to large-scale purchases of U.S. emergency reserve crude oil to replace lost supply.

Trafigura leads buyers; independent traders take half the volume

Regarding buyer composition, according to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) data compiled by Bloomberg, commodity trader Trafigura has become the largest single buyer of SPR crude oil, with about 34 million barrels purchased.

Refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp ranks second with about 22 million barrels; Shell’s trading unit ranks third with about 18 million barrels; ExxonMobil bought about 14 million barrels; the remaining roughly 44 million barrels have been divided among Macquarie, BP, Phillips 66, Vitol, Mercuria, Gunvor, Energy Transfer, ATMI under TotalEnergies, and Alon USA, among others.

Independent traders took about half of the released volume, reflecting the dominant role of commercial entities in this SPR release operation.

Reserves near forty-year lows; restocking plan to start as early as September

Large-scale releases are pushing reserves toward historic lows. According to relevant data, as crude continues to be released, inventory is quickly approaching the lowest level since the 1980s.

Against the backdrop of persistently high gasoline prices in the U.S., this trend has sparked widespread concerns regarding the country’s energy security buffer capacity.

To prevent excessive depletion of reserves, the government has designed a swap mechanism in response. The restocking plan will begin as early as September, at which time traders and refiners must start returning the borrowed crude as per agreements.

Under the swap arrangement, the government plans to lend out 172 million barrels and receive about 200 million barrels in return, achieving a net increase in reserves with a slightly higher volume than borrowed. Whether the release volume will continue to rise depends on developments in the Iran war and the global supply recovery process.

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