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

Dow Jones05-06 23:00

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude-oil inventories fell for a second consecutive week while product stocks extended their decline, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude-oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were down by 2.3 million barrels at 457.2 million barrels in the week ended May 1, and were about 1% above the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. The withdrawal was in line with the forecast in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil held in the SPR fell by 5.2 million barrels to 392.7 million barrels as the Department of Energy continued with emergency releases in response to loss of Middle East supply. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 648,000 barrels to 29.1 million barrels.

U.S. crude-oil production was down by 13,000 barrels a day at almost 13.6 million barrels a day, according to EIA estimates. Crude-oil imports fell by 273,000 barrels a day to 5.5 million barrels a day. Crude exports totaled 4.8 million barrels a day, down by 1.7 million barrels a day from the previous week's record 6.4 million barrels a day.

Refineries ran at 90.1% of capacity, up from 89.6% the week before, with crude input to refineries slipping by 42,000 barrels a day to 16 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have risen by 0.7 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels to 219.8 million barrels in a 12th consecutive weekly draw, and were 4% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand was down by 291,000 barrels a day at 8.8 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 2.2 million barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks fell by 1.3 million barrels to 102.3 million barrels, and were 11% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate inventories were seen down by 1.9 million barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended May 1: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -2.3          -2.5           -1.3                 0.5 
Forecast:          -2.3          -2.2           -1.9                 0.7

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

May 06, 2026 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT)

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

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