18.08.202623:04:04UTC+00US Crude Inventories Barely Decline

US crude oil inventories slipped by just 328,000 barrels in the week ending August 14, following a sharp 9.07 million-barrel build in the previous week. Even so, this was the first weekly decline in five weeks. Over the past 18 weeks, commercial crude stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have fallen by just over 49 million barrels, though they remain up by 1.88 million barrels since the start of the year.

The SPR saw an additional draw of 5.3 million barrels, reducing total reserves to 293.4 million barrels—hovering near the widely cited operational minimum range of 250–300 million barrels. At Cushing, Oklahoma, inventories dropped by 1.44 million barrels, partially reversing the prior week’s 1.57 million-barrel increase.

US crude production inched higher to 13.805 million barrels per day from 13.804 million barrels per day, an increase of 521,000 barrels per day compared with a year earlier. On the product side, gasoline inventories rose by 1.08 million barrels, while distillate stocks declined by 2.80 million barrels, extending their cumulative two-week drop to 3.39 million barrels.