The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) refills the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) mainly by buying crude oil and by accepting oil returned through exchanges. Purchased or returned crude is transported to a designated Gulf Coast site and injected into underground salt caverns. An exchange is a temporary loan: the borrower must return the volume borrowed plus extra premium barrels. A sale, by contrast, does not mean the released oil automatically comes back.
How is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve refilled?
DOE’s Office of Petroleum Reserves arranges crude deliveries through procurement contracts or exchange agreements. In a purchase, the government buys specified crude from suppliers. In an exchange, a company receives crude temporarily and later returns the same quantity plus an additional volume as a premium. Once crude reaches the appropriate site, it is injected into the reserve’s caverns.
DOE’s historical filling overview describes royalty-in-kind as an earlier refill method. That method ended in 2009; it should not be confused with the current principal routes of purchases and exchange returns. DOE’s SPR overview
Who buys the oil, and how are purchases awarded?
DOE conducts procurement through its Office of Petroleum Reserves. The office issues a solicitation describing the amount sought, delivery window, destination, and crude requirements. Suppliers submit offers, and DOE evaluates them for price as well as whether they meet the specified quality and other requirements.
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For example, DOE announced on November 12, 2025, that it had awarded contracts for approximately 1 million barrels after receiving 18 offers from six companies. The selected crude met the stated quality and specification requirements, with deliveries to Bryan Mound scheduled from December 1, 2025, through January 31, 2026. That announcement documents a contract and planned schedule; it does not by itself establish that every scheduled barrel was delivered. DOE’s November 12, 2025 procurement announcement
What happens to oil borrowed through an exchange?
An exchange is designed for a temporary supply disruption, often affecting a refiner. The recipient gets crude when it needs it and must return the same quantity later, plus additional barrels as a premium. The premium compensates the government for the temporary use of its oil; it also means an exchange can add more barrels to the reserve than were initially loaned, once the return is completed.
This differs from an outright purchase, where DOE pays for crude that becomes part of the reserve. DOE explains the distinction between sales and exchanges in its sales and exchanges overview.
Does every sale get replaced?
No. DOE conducts public sales through competitive auctions, with oil awarded to the highest bidder. Proceeds from a sale may later be used to buy crude back into the SPR, but that is not an automatic barrel-for-barrel return. Congressional mandated sales are a separate case: DOE’s August 2024 fact sheet says oil sold under mandated sales is not replenished by the SPR. DOE’s August 2024 SPR fact sheet
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Where does refill oil go?
The SPR stores crude in underground salt caverns at four Gulf Coast sites:
- Bryan Mound, Texas
- Big Hill, Texas
- West Hackberry, Louisiana
- Bayou Choctaw, Louisiana
DOE’s fact sheet gives the reserve’s capacity as 713.5 million barrels; its historical filling page rounds design capacity to 714 million barrels. Those are rounded descriptions from sources of different dates. The 2024 fact sheet describes 60 caverns, averaging about 200 feet in diameter and 2,550 feet in height. DOE’s SPR overview
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Refilling requires more than paying for crude. DOE’s FY 2027 budget material describes the SPR Petroleum Account as supporting acquisition, transportation, and injection, as well as test sales and drawdowns. The delivery destination matters because crude must reach a suitable site and be injected into storage.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How full is the reserve?
The latest inventory figure established here is 415.4 million barrels at the end of February 2026, as reported in DOE’s FY 2027 budget material. This is a dated figure, not an October 2026 inventory or a statement of the reserve’s current level. The same material reports that Congress canceled 147 million barrels of previously mandated sales and that 92.6 million barrels remained required by the end of FY 2031; those policy totals should be checked against subsequent law before being treated as current. DOE budget and performance materials
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For context, DOE’s August 2024 fact sheet reported about 372 million barrels in stock as of August 1, 2024. That older figure should not be presented as the current inventory.
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