Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTHillary RemySun, June 14, 2026 at 10:07 PM GMT+2 6 min read"You're hitting tank bottom." That is the phrase one oil industry executive used to describe the state of global petroleum inventories, in a conversation the executive said had already been shared with senior officials in Washington. The same person gave it an unusually specific deadline: mid-to-late June, according to E&E News.The White House's response was immediate and direct."Politico's anonymous sources are wrong," a White House official said, while an Energy Department official added there have been no such discussions about inventory levels, according to E&E News.Four oil executives told Politico the opposite is true, and at least two of them have now made similar warnings on the record.Oil inventory data shows the steepest drawdown in decadesThe dispute traces back to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed following US and Israeli strikes that began on February 28.The strait normally carries roughly one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The inventory drawdown has been underway since the early weeks of the disruption, when the world was already burning through stockpiles at 7.1 million barrels per day.Worldwide petroleum stocks now hold around 7.5 billion barrels, a decline of approximately 500 million barrels since the conflict began, falling at a rate of roughly 5.8 million barrels per day, according to Jim Burkhard, vice president and global head of crude oil research at S&P Global Energy, cited by E&E News.Most of that oil already has buyers and is not held in reserve, Burkhard said, and inventories in some regions may be hitting operational minimums.More Oil and Gas:Goldman Sachs quietly resets oil price forecast for 2027Jim Cramer drops blunt 7-word verdict on oil pricesWarren Buffett has a message on energy prices for all AmericansOn the US side, gasoline inventories fell by 47.5 million barrels between early February and late May, the steepest February-to-May drawdown in EIA weekly data going back to 1990, according to OilPrice.com.The next-largest February-to-May drawdowns on record were clustered around 30 million barrels, set 15 years ago. US commercial crude stocks separately fell 8 million barrels in the most recent week, the eighth straight weekly decline, leaving stockpiles roughly 3% below their five-year average.What "tank bottom" means for the strategic reserveThe Strategic Petroleum Reserve has absorbed much of the strain. SPR inventories fell by 9.1 million barrels in a single week and were 36.2 million barrels below year-ago levels, with the recent drawdowns marking the largest weekly SPR withdrawals in history, according to OilPrice.com.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info