U.S. draws 18 million barrels from Strategic Petroleum Reserve, prices unmoved

The Department of Energy authorized an 18-million-barrel drawdown from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to cap Brent prices above $125. It did not work. Brent dipped $1.50 on the announcement and recovered within two sessions. The SPR holds roughly 370 million barrels — enough to cover roughly 18 days of total U.S. consumption at current rates. The drawdown signals urgency, not strategy. The last major SPR release, under Biden in 2022, moved prices temporarily too. But the market then was dealing with a demand shock. This is a structural supply route crisis. No amount of reserve oil changes the fact that the waterway it must pass through is a war zone.