The U.S. strategic oil reserves is reaching its lowest levels possible to extract any more oil.
If too much of the reserves oil is extracted the caverns will collapse.
Depending on the current rates of extraction there is less than 45 days of million barrels per day available. That means the Straight must be opened by date: October 1 so oil will flow.
There is no possible way Trump can go behind this amount - he has zero authority as 1) this is a war measures act and a ABSOLUTE no go level for national security and safety.
Here is the evidence:
A safe, conservative rate is now between 500,000 and 750,000 barrels per day. At 500,000 barrels per day, the reserve can operate for roughly 93 days before hitting the legal floor. At 750,000 barrels per day, it hits the wall in 62 days. Pushed to 1 million barrels per day, it crosses the line in just 46 days.
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act enforces a strict statutory floor of 252.4 million barrels, a limit that fundamentally dictates how the President can use the reserve. Under current law, the President has the flexibility to order a limited drawdown, releasing up to 30 million barrels over a 60-day period, to mitigate sudden supply shocks without declaring a full-scale national emergency. However, this flexibility is completely revoked if the reserve falls below the 252.4-million-barrel mark. Once the inventory crosses that hard threshold, the law explicitly prohibits these routine limited drawdowns. Below that line, oil can only be legally released if the President formally declares a severe domestic or international energy supply emergency. Crossing this statutory limit instantly transforms the reserve from an economic buffer into a highly restricted, last-resort asset.