The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its official weekly petroleum status report this morning for the week ending August 15, 2026. Defying the preliminary drawdown estimates reported by private inventory surveys, official government data reveals another supply expansion.
Here is the breakdown of the official figures released at 10:30 AM EDT:
📊 Key Inventory Numbers
- Crude Oil Inventories: Commercial crude stockpiles increased by 4.4 million barrels. This continuous expansion follows last week’s massive, export-stalled spike of 17.4 million barrels.
- Gasoline Stockpiles: Finished gasoline inventories shifted to a minor build, rising by 700,000 barrels.
- Distillate Fuel Stocks: Distillates (which include critical industrial fuels like diesel and heating oil) declined by 1.5 million barrels, extending the persistent supply squeeze that is keeping domestic refining margins near record highs.
- Cushing Hub: Stocks at the primary storage and delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, bucked the broader national trend, dropping by 1.3 million barrels.
📈 Refining & Production Activity
- Domestic Production: Total U.S. crude output remains highly robust, ticking up slightly to 13.83 million barrels per day, hovering just below the nation's historical high.
- Refinery Utilization: Refineries ramped up their operations to process 17.51 million barrels per day in raw inputs, operating at a high 97.2% capacity utilization rate.
- Trade Flow: Total petroleum exports stabilized back upward, averaging 12.34 million barrels per day for the week.
Comment Bellow:
Would you like to look closer at the historical seasonal benchmarks for these distillate deficits, or see how WTI and Brent crude futures reacted immediately following this 10:30 AM inventory print?
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