Is the US Stockpiling Dirty Oils?

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) lacks transparency regarding the greenhouse gas emissions intensities of the oils it stores, which hinders the ability to minimize climate impacts during drawdowns. The document notes that different oils vary significantly in their climate footprints based on production and refining methods, and that a mismatch exists between the SPR's lighter crudes and the deep-conversion refineries in Texas and Louisiana that primarily process them. It suggests that selectively purchasing the lowest climate-intensive oils for the current one-million-barrel daily withdrawal could save an estimated 90 million tons of CO2e.

• The climate footprints of oils vary significantly based on production, refining, and shipping; for instance, lighter oils can differ by 10 times or more depending on methane leaks, while some oils from Mexico, Canada, or Indonesia can be three times more polluting than those from Saudi Arabia, Norway, or the UAE.
• There is a significant mismatch between the lighter crudes stored in the SPR and the US refinery infrastructure; approximately 81 percent of current SPR refining capacity is designed for heavy crudes in deep conversion refineries, which are on average three times more climate intensive than hydroskimmers.
• Improving data transparency and selectively sourcing the lowest climate-intensive oils for the March 2022 drawdown of one million barrels per day could save an estimated 90 million tons of CO2e, equivalent to the emissions of 40 million cars over the same period.
• The SPR does not ensure US 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.

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} }