US Crude Inventories Fall 3.1 Million Barrels as Gasoline Stocks Shrink

US commercial crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels to 412.5 million in the week ended 16 October, the Energy Information Administration said in its Wednesday release. The measure excludes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Crude stocks were 3% below the five-year seasonal average. Gasoline inventories also dropped, by 3 million barrels, leaving them 5% below that benchmark. Distillate stocks moved the other way, rising 1.7 million barrels, although they remained 9% below the five-year average.

Refineries processed 16.6 million barrels a day, up 34,000 from the previous week, and operated at 93.4% of capacity. Crude imports fell by 291,000 barrels a day to 5.8 million.

Over the past four weeks, total products supplied, a proxy for petroleum demand, averaged 21.1 million barrels a day, up 3.2% from a year earlier. The distillate measure, however, was down 2.4% at 3.9 million barrels a day.

The report offers a mixed picture: crude and gasoline buffers declined, while distillate stocks recovered. Weekly inventory changes reflect supply flows and refinery activity as well as consumption; a draw alone does not establish the direction of future oil prices.

Sources: EIA weekly report, released 21 October 2026; EIA weekly summary; OilPrice report.

Archival image: Cherry Point Refinery, Washington, 2021. NOAA Office for Coastal Management / USDA-FSA via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Cropped to 16:9 by Morval Universal.