U.S. Commercial Crude Inventories Fall to 2018 Low

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories fell sharply last week, dropping to their lowest level in years as heightened refinery activity and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East tightened supplies. According to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, commercial stockpiles, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 7.2 million barrels in the week ending July 24. This brought inventories down to 404.5 million barrels, the lowest level since 2018 and approximately 7% below the five-year average for this time of year.

The draw was significantly larger than market expectations, which had anticipated a decline of between 1.3 million and 2.5 million barrels. The report indicated that refinery crude runs increased by 271,000 barrels per day, with utilization rates rising to 97.2% of capacity. U.S. crude exports also edged higher to 3.5 million barrels per day.

Including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, total U.S. crude and petroleum product stocks have been drawn down to multi-decade lows. The SPR itself now holds approximately 349.2 million barrels, a level not seen since the early 1980s. This depletion follows a...