Key facts
- US crude oil inventories fell by 765,000 barrels in the week ending June 19, per API estimates.
US crude oil inventories fell by 765,000 barrels according to API data, while commercial inventories have dropped significantly over the past two months. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continues to be drawn down, reaching its lowest level in over four decades.
The continued drawdown of commercial crude inventories, coupled with the historic low levels of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, signals potential supply tightness. This situation, alongside rising US production, impacts global oil prices and energy security.
Crude oil inventories in the United States continued to decline, with the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimating a drop of 765,000 barrels for the week ending June 19. This follows a larger decrease of 8.33 million barrels in the previous week. Despite commercial inventories falling by 53 million barrels over the last ten weeks, overall US crude inventories have only decreased by 2.1 million barrels year-to-date, largely due to significant draws from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
The steady transfer of barrels from the SPR to the commercial system has depleted the reserve to its lowest level in over four decades. In the week ending June 19, an additional 9.1 million barrels were withdrawn, bringing the SPR total to 331.2 million barrels. This level is 394 million barrels below maximum capacity.
Meanwhile, US crude oil production saw a slight increase, reaching 13.806 million barrels per day for the week ending June 12, up from 13.799 million bpd the prior week and 375,000 bpd higher than a year ago, according to the latest EIA data.
Gasoline inventories rose for the second consecutive week, increasing by 1.238 million barrels. Distillate inventories also increased, by 1.447 million barrels. Despite these increases, gasoline inventories remain 6% below the five-year average, and distillate inventories were 13% below the five-year average as of June 12.
Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for WTI crude futures, fell by another 982,000 barrels during the reporting period.