US Oil Reserve Claim Debunked: Crude Oil Not Petroleum Products
The claim that the US has only 14 days of oil reserves is based on an incorrect calculation. According to an OilPrice article, this comparison mixes up crude oil with petroleum products in the reserve and consumption rates.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) holds approximately 286.6 million barrels of crude oil, which is its lowest level since November 1982. However, this reserve is not the only source of oil for the US - the country produces about 13.9 million barrels of crude oil per day and has commercial crude oil inventories totaling around 424.5 million barrels.
The SPR was created after the Arab oil embargo in 1973-74 to respond to serious supply disruptions. The reserve's design capacity is 714 million barrels, but it currently holds only about 40% of this amount.