3 ms·

I think it would make sense to compare the barrels with US demand and not global demand. I couldn't find a good recent estimate of US oil demand. Wikipedia says

• WaltPurvis 11y ago
  More recent figures can be found here: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/PET_SUM_CRDSND_K_M.htm http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/PET_SUM_CRDSND_K_M.htm We (the United States) produce around 9 million barrels per day, and could produce more if necessary. We import a bit more than 7 million barrels per day. We wouldn't need to replace domestic production, so the strategic reserve would cover about 100 days of lost imports. But there are few if any scenarios where we'd lose all imports -- most likely we'd lose access to only a small fraction of imports, and even that kind of shock would spike prices and thus our consumption would drop and domestic production would increase -- so the reserve can be expected to last far more than 100 days. (If we are ever in a situation where it seems plausible the reserve might be exhausted, e.g., a major global war, then extreme conservation measures will be enforced, and the discussion changes state.)