The Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, US
Oil stocks have become truly strategic
Strategic stock releases designed to alleviate price shocks emanating from disruptions came into their own after the Russia crisis
The world has experienced 20 oil market disruptions over the last 50 years. Up until this decade, the maximum price increase was predictable. Supply losses—or fears of losses—caused those holding stocks to hoard and those who needed stocks to bid aggressively, pushing prices up. Over that span, consuming nations had the option to moderate the price impact of disruptions by drawing down strategic stocks. Their leaders ignored such calls until 2022, when a significant release broke the price rise prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In each of the disruptions before 2022, government officials would say the same thing. For example, in 2019, Brian Hook, US special representative for Iran an
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
