Trump Says Venezuelan Oil Will Refill U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the United States will use Venezuelan crude oil to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), referring to it as a "gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States." The SPR, which had been drawing close to its minimum operational levels due to a surge in U.S. crude oil exports in response to the Middle East crisis, currently holds 290 million barrels, the lowest level in nearly 44 years, according to Reuters.

The Venezuelan crude oil that will refill the SPR may take some time to reach its destination. Last month, Venezuela exported 1.16 million barrels of crude oil daily, a slight decline from June's 1.2 million barrels daily, as lower withdrawals from storage contributed to this figure. This indicates that production is not rising as quickly as some may hope.

Furthermore, port capacity constraints have also been a hindrance, with tankers reportedly waiting for up to 30 days to load due to power outages and quality issues with the shipped crude oil. Despite this, in July, exports to the United States averaged 786,000 barrels daily, the highest level since early 2019. Additionally, the U.S. federal government is reportedly negotiating a direct ownership stake in a high-yield field in Venezuela containing 90 billion barrels of crude reserves.

However, boosting Venezuelan oil production would require significant investments, with Rystad Energy estimating the total cost over the next ten years at $180 billion.