U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Fall for Fourth Straight Week

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories were down last week in a fourth consecutive weekly decline, while gasoline stocks rose and distillate stocks fell, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 1.9 million barrels to 410.6 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 23 and were 4% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have slipped by 100,000 barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil stored in the SPR was down by 100,000 barrels at 282.6 million barrels, and oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 624,000 barrels to 27 million barrels.

U.S. crude oil production recovered from storm-related shut-ins the previous two weeks, rising by 723,000 barrels a day to 14 million barrels a day. Crude oil imports increased by 616,000 barrels a day to 6.4 million barrels a day, and exports rose by 1.4 million barrels a day to 4.9 million barrels a day.

Refineries ran at 92.8% of capacity, down from 93.4% the previous week, with crude input to refineries falling by 123,000 barrels a day to 16.5 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were seen unchanged in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories rose by 3.9 million barrels to 209.2 million barrels, and were 2% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand fell by 625,000 barrels a day to 8.4 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 700,000 barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks declined by 1.5 million barrels to 102.8 million barrels as demand rose by 475,000 barrels a day to 4.2 million barrels a day, and were 10% below the five-year average. Distillate stocks were expected to have fallen by 1.1 million barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Oct. 23: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -1.9           3.9           -1.5                -0.6 
Forecast:          -0.1          -0.7           -1.1                unch 

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

October 28, 2026 11:13 ET (15:13 GMT)