Is the US Stockpiling Dirty Oils?

This report by RMI examines the environmental implications of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), arguing that a lack of data transparency regarding the origin and emissions intensity of stored oils hinders climate goals. It highlights a mismatch between the SPR's lighter crudes and the heavy-oil capacity of the refineries that primarily receive them, and calls for the strategic refilling of the SPR with low-emissions intensity oils to reduce greenhouse gas impacts.

• The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) lacks transparency regarding the origin and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of its stored oils, which may include oil from Russia. This opacity prevents an accurate assessment of the climate footprints associated with SPR releases, as emissions vary significantly based on how oil is produced, refined, and shipped.
• There is a significant mismatch between the types of oil stored in the SPR and the capabilities of the refineries that process them. While the SPR's salt caverns along the Gulf Coast are said to contain lighter oils, approximately 81 percent of current SPR refining capacity is designed for heavy crudes in deep-conversion refineries. Because deep-conversion refineries are estimated to be three times more climate intensive than hydroskimmers, these mismatches result in GHG penalties.
• The report suggests that selectively purchasing the lowest climate intensive oils for the March 2022 withdrawal of one million barrels per day over six months could have saved an estimated 90 million tons of CO2e, which is equivalent to the emissions of 40 million cars over that period.
• The SPR does not ensure American energy independence, as the US imports and exports similar volumes of oil. In January 2022, the US imported over 8 million barrels per day (bpd) and exported 9 million bpd, with crude imports regularly exceeding the SPR's maximum drawdown rate.

APA

RMI (2022). Is the US Stockpiling Dirty Oils? https://rmi.org/resources/is-the-us-stockpiling-dirty-oils/

Chicago

RMI. Is the US Stockpiling Dirty Oils? 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/is-the-us-stockpiling-dirty-oils/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Is the US Stockpiling Dirty Oils? |date=20 April 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/is-the-us-stockpiling-dirty-oils/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022stockpiling, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Is the US Stockpiling Dirty Oils?}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/is-the-us-stockpiling-dirty-oils/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }