<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Energy Secretary Chris Wright has proposed refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by having U.S. companies swap heavy crude newly sourced from Venezuela for U.S.-produced light or medium crude that is better suited for the reserve.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">During a flight from Caracas, Venezuela, to Washington, D.C., Wright told the Washington Examiner that the emergency oil reserve currently does not store heavy crude, like what is produced in Venezuela, and so the government likely won’t be physically replenishing the falling inventories with the South American country’s oil. Instead, it will facilitate an exchange to obtain the proper oil.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We hold a little bit of the very light crude we produce from shale … and so we want to keep some variety of crude in [the SPR], but it’ll be medium grades,” Wright said. “It won’t be the ultra-heavy Venezuelan crude.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Rather than directly filling SPR facilities, the secretary said, the Venezuelan heavy crude will go to U.S. refineries located along the Gulf Coast.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">These refineries will then sell the refined product to companies also in possession of light and medium grades. From there, that heavy crude can be traded for barrels that can be stored in the SPR.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“The extra barrels from this deal, the extra barrels from these investments, those can be easily traded,” Wright said, “They just bring more oil into the U.S. market, which makes it easier to store more oil.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Energy Secretary Chris Wright meets with acting Venezuela President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas, Sept. 2, 2026." class="wp-image-4710025" height="702" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Wright-Rodriguez.jpg?w=696" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Energy Secretary Chris Wright meets with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas, Sept. 2, 2026. (Callie Patteson/Washington Examiner)</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">His comments come at the tail end of his visit to Caracas, where Wright oversaw the signing of several agreements with five energy companies to rapidly expand Venezuelan oil production and bolster the country’s electrical grid.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Those agreements are separate from the deal announced by President Donald Trump late last week to access roughly 65 billion barrels of crude reserves. That deal was made with private oil and gas exploration and production company North American Blue Energy Partners, which is granting the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital a 35% equity stake in its corporate parent.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Under the agreement, NABEP has been granted a 100-year concession for 17 oil fields in Venezuela, which are estimated to have the 65 billion barrel reserves.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img alt="Graphic of Venezuela's oil fields and pipelines" class="wp-image-4707865" height="684" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/venezuela-oil-fields3.png?w=696" width="1024" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Graphic: Grace Hagerman/Washington Examiner</figcaption></figure>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The United States will have primary access to any oil produced on these fields, with the State Department having been granted a guaranteed 20% of the offtake and right of first refusal for the remaining 80%.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">After announcing the deal, Trump said Venezuelan oil would replenish the SPR.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuela Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves,” Trump said, “which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied. The ‘topping out’ process will begin very shortly, and is a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This plan was reiterated on Wednesday by White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly, who told Fox News that oil from the deal could hit reserves as early as November.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As Wright explained to the Washington Examiner, the existing SPR facilities were not built to store heavy Venezuelan crude.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to the Department of Energy, the SPR can hold oil that is of light gravity — 30 to 40 degrees API — and contains less than 2% total sulfur by mass. Venezuelan crude contains between 3% to 5% sulfur with an API gravity between 8 and 16 degrees.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Reserves held in the SPR fell to the lowest level since late 1982 earlier this week.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Trump administration is releasing as much as 172 million barrels to stave off high oil and gasoline prices, which have risen sharply over the last six months due to trade disruptions caused by the war in Iran.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/4698226/strategic-petroleum-reserve-hits-lowest-level-1982/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE HITS LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1982</a></strong></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If all 172 million barrels are released, it could send the SPR to the lowest level since it was created. The administration has promised to replace the released oil with around 200 million barrels, leaving inventories with around 443 million barrels.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Republicans have broadly blamed the Biden administration for leaving the SPR with low inventories before Trump took office, threatening the country’s ability to respond to energy crises. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden released 180 million barrels in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.</p>