U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Post Fourth Straight Weekly Draw

Dow Jones05-20 22:53

By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories fell for a fourth consecutive week as the country maintained a high level of exports and refinery use, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were down by 7.9 million barrels at 445 million barrels in the week ended May 15 and were about 2% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have fallen by 3 million barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

The Department of Energy released 9.9 million barrels of oil from the SPR, the largest withdrawal on record for a single week, leaving stocks in the reserve at 374.2 million barrels. The DOE plans to release 172 million barrels as part of international measures to address supply disruptions out of the Persian Gulf.

Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 1.6 million barrels to 25.8 million barrels.

U.S. crude oil production was steady at 13.7 million barrels a day, according to EIA estimates. Crude imports rose by 116,000 barrels a day to 6 million barrels a day, and exports were up by 112,000 barrels a day at 5.6 million barrels a day.

U.S. refinery capacity use slipped to 91.6% from 91.7% the week before, with crude input to refineries down by 80,000 barrels a day at 16.3 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have risen by 0.6 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories decreased by 1.5 million barrels to 214.2 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 2.7 million barrel withdrawal, and were 5% below the five-year average. Gasoline demand was little changed at 8.8 million barrels a day.

Distillate fuel stocks rose for a second consecutive week and were up by 372,000 barrels at 102.9 million barrels, or about 9% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate inventories were forecast to have fallen by 1.2 million barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended May 15: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -7.9          -1.5            0.4                -0.1 
Forecast:          -3.0          -2.7           -1.2                 0.6

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 20, 2026 10:53 ET (14:53 GMT)

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles Post Fourth Straight Weekly Draw

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Comments