U.S. commercial crude oil inventories registered a massive and unexpected increase last week, climbing by 17.4 million barrels as import volumes climbed sharply and outgoing shipments slowed.

Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the week ended Aug. 7 shows commercial crude stocks rising to 424.4 million barrels—defying Wall Street expectations of a 600,000-barrel decline. The total stockpile, excluding emergency reserves, now sits about 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Shift in Foreign Trade Drives Domestic Build

A significant reversal in trade flows served as the primary catalyst behind the weekly supply surge. Daily crude imports jumped by 1.1 million barrels to reach 7.3 million barrels per day (bpd), while daily exports contracted by 627,000 barrels to 3.1 million bpd.

Meanwhile, domestic crude production held steady at 13.8 million bpd.

At key storage nodes across the country:

• Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Emergency reserves fell by 6.1 million barrels to 298.7 million barrels, reaching their lowest level in over 40 years as ongoing Department of Energy emergency releases continued.
• Cushing Hub: Inventories at the Nymex delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 1.6 million barrels to 22.6 million barrels.

Refinery Activity and Fuel Product Trends

Refinery throughput remained elevated despite a minor dip in overall capacity utilization. Processing plants operated at 96.2% of capacity, down 0.3 percentage points from 96.5% the prior week—slightly exceeding analyst predictions of a 0.2 percentage point drop. Overall crude inputs to refineries edged up by 26,000 bpd to reach 17.2 million bpd.

refined product supplies tightened across gasoline and distillate categories:

• Gasoline: Inventories shrank by 1 million barrels to 208.7 million barrels (6% below the five-year average), compared to an expected 1.3 million-barrel draw. Gasoline demand slipped by 67,000 bpd to 9 million bpd.
• Distillates: Stocks edged down by 10,000 barrels to 107.1 million barrels (12% below the five-year average), trailing expectations of a 1.6 million-barrel drop.

Key Weekly Figures at a Glance (Week Ended Aug. 7)

• Commercial Crude: +17.4 million barrels (Actual) vs. -0.6 million barrels (Forecast)
• Gasoline: -1.0 million barrels (Actual) vs. -1.3 million barrels (Forecast)
• Distillates: -10,000 barrels (Actual) vs. -1.6 million barrels (Forecast)
• Refinery Capacity Usage: -0.3 percentage points (Actual) vs. -0.2 percentage points (Forecast)