By Anthony Harrup
U.S. crude oil inventories increased last week as imports rose and exports fell, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were up by 2.8 million barrels at 426.9 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 21 and were about 4% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey predicted a 1.3 million barrel decline.
Oil stored in the SPR rose by 498,000 barrels to 411.4 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, were down by 68,000 barrels at 21.8 million barrels.
The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.8 million barrels a day, down by 20,000 barrels a day from the week before. Crude oil imports averaged 6.4 million barrels a day, up by 486,000 barrels a day, while exports fell by 560,000 barrels a day to 3.6 million barrels a day.
Refinery capacity use rose to 92.3% from 90% the previous week, with crude input to refineries up by 211,000 barrels a day to 16.4 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have risen by 0.8 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.
Gasoline inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels to 209.9 million barrels, and were 3% below the five-year average, the EIA said. Gasoline demand was 8.7 million barrels a day, or 199,000 barrels a day more than the week before. Gasoline stocks were expected to have risen by 500,000 barrels.
Distillate fuel stocks rose by 1.1 million barrels to 112.2 million barrels and were 5% below the five-year average. Distillate stocks were forecast to have risen by 200,000 barrels.
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Nov. 21:
Crude Gasoline Distillates Refinery Use
EIA data: 2.8 2.5 1.1 2.3
Forecast: -1.3 0.5 0.2 0.8
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
November 26, 2025 11:10 ET (16:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
