U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Post Unexpected Build

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories rose for the first time in 11 weeks as production and imports increased and exports fell, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased by 3 million barrels to 411.4 million barrels in the week ended July 3, and were about 6% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have fallen by 1.4 million barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil stored in the SPR fell by 6.2 million barrels to 319.5 million barrels as the Department of Energy continued with emergency releases. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, slipped by 52,000 barrels to 19.6 million barrels.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production a little under 13.9 million barrels a day, up by 50,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Crude oil imports rose by 351,000 barrels a day to 5.6 million barrels a day, while exports fell by 746,000 barrels a day to 3.3 million barrels a day.

Refineries ran at 95.8% of capacity, down from 96.6% the week before, with crude input to refineries falling by 173,000 barrels a day to 17 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have slipped by one tenth of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 212.1 million barrels, and were 6% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand fell by 286,000 barrels a day to 8.8 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 1.3 million barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks fell by 5 million barrels to 103.6 million barrels against expectations of a 900,000 barrel increase. Distillate inventories were about 12% below the five-year average, the EIA said.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended July 3: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:           3.0          -1.9           -5.0                -0.8 
Forecast:          -1.4          -1.3            0.9                -0.1 
 

Note: Numbers in millions of barrels, with the exception of refinery use, which is in percentage points.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 08, 2026 11:20 ET (15:20 GMT)