New Delhi, June 16 -- The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve tumbled last week to its lowest level since 1983 as the Trump administration continues to deploy emergency oil to minimize economic damage from the war with Iran.

Citing federal data released on Monday, a CNN news report highlighted that US officials released another 8.9 million barrels from the emergency stockpile last week alone. The news report mentioned that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) held 340.3 million barrels of crude oil as of June 12, 2026, dropping below the prior historic low set in July 2023 under President Joe Biden following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The last time the reserve held less oil than its current level was July 1983, a period when the 40th US ...