Strategic Petroleum Reserve uses salt caverns to store crude oil and has the capacity of 797 million barrels [1], which is equivalent to roughly 500-700 larger tankers. Both construction cost and carry cost per barrel are, of course, much lower vs. tankers.
At recent market prices ($-37 a barrel as of April 2020),[5] the SPR holds over $-9.26 billion in sweet crude and approximately $-20.4 billion in sour crude (assuming a $15/barrel discount for sulfur content).
This would be only true if the cost of storing would be free.
At recent market prices ($-37 a barrel as of April 2020),[5] the SPR holds over $-9.26 billion in sweet crude and approximately $-20.4 billion in sour crude (assuming a $15/barrel discount for sulfur content).
This would be only true if the cost of storing would be free.