SunSirs: Driven by Slumping Exports, U.S. Commercial Crude Oil Inventories See Largest Weekly Build in Three and a Half Years

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated on Wednesday that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) unexpectedly rose last week due to a drop in exports, marking the largest weekly increase since January 2023.

The EIA reported that crude inventories climbed by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million barrels for the week ending August 7—the highest level since June 5—contrasting with analyst expectations of a 1.4 million-barrel draw.

This substantial inventory build coincided with a surge in imports. EIA data shows that U.S. commercial crude imports reached 7.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last week, the highest level since November 2024.

Matt Smith, Head of Commodity Research at Kpler, said: “Persistently weak crude exports combined with a sharp jump in imports drove the second-largest crude inventory build in history—with the vast majority of the increase occurring on the Gulf Coast.” Crude inventories at the U.S. Gulf Coast saw their largest weekly rise since January 2023.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.6 million barrels.

Following the report of the unexpectedly large inventory build, U.S. crude and Brent crude futures initially extended their losses, though prices had largely stabilized by 11:32 a.m. ET.

U.S. Crude Exports Plunge

U.S. crude exports fell to 3.06 million bpd last week, the lowest level since November 2025 and the lowest point since the outbreak of the conflict involving Iran. During that conflict, the U.S., as a key global supplier, had ramped up exports to fill the supply gap left by shortages of Middle Eastern crude. Josh Young, Chief Investment Officer at Bison Interests, said: “This week’s report shows a significant increase in crude oil inventories, which appears somewhat anomalous. Exports were unusually low while imports remained high. If further inventory builds appear in future reports, it would be bearish for oil prices, but for now, this looks more like a one-off event.”

The EIA reported that U.S. net crude oil imports rose by 1.77 million barrels per day (bpd), reaching their highest level since June 2025. Notably, crude imports from Canada climbed to their highest level since March 2025, and imports from Venezuela reached their highest since September 2024.

David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation, commented: “Today’s figures were heavily skewed by tanker offloading in the U.S., but the challenging fundamental landscape remains unchanged. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve continues to shrink, and gasoline inventories also declined. The market will likely look past this report and remain focused on developments in the Middle East.”

The EIA stated that refinery crude oil processing increased by 26,000 bpd during the week.

Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.3 percentage points to 96.2%.

The EIA reported a 1-million-barrel drop in U.S. gasoline inventories to 208.7 million barrels; analysts had expected a 1.2-million-barrel decline.

EIA data showed that distillate inventories—which include diesel and heating oil—fell by 10,000 barrels to 107.1 million barrels, compared to an expected drop of 1.3 million barrels.

Total product supplied—a proxy for demand—decreased by 335,000 bpd to 20.64 million bpd.

 

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