- Prior was -1934K
- Gasoline +7702K vs +3186K exp
- Distillates +5594K vs +2109K exp
The private data released late yesterday showed:
- Crude -2.8m
- Gasoline +4.4m
- Distillates +4.9m
Given the private numbers, the official report isn't a big surprise but it's still bearish. Yes, there was a headline draw in crude but those are big builds in products that are going to weigh on crude demand going forward.
WTI crude oil is down 80-cents to $56.34 today. IT touched as low as $55.76 today, which is the lowest since Dec 17 and close to last year's low of $55.00.
For background:
The EIA weekly crude oil report—formally the US Energy Information Administration’s “weekly petroleum status report”—is one of the most market-moving snapshots of near-term oil fundamentals. Released weekly, it estimates changes in US crude oil inventories (commercial stocks), often with special focus on the cushing, oklahoma delivery hub for wti, plus key balances like imports, exports, and refinery utilization. Traders also watch the supply side: estimated domestic crude production, adjustments tied to measurement/timing issues, and flows into or out of the strategic petroleum reserve when applicable.
Importantly, the report doesn’t just cover crude. It includes gasoline and distillate inventories, refinery runs, and “product supplied” figures that function as a real-time proxy for demand. Because the US is both a major producer and exporter, swings in net exports or refinery runs can dominate the weekly crude stock change, so markets look through the headline build/draw to the drivers underneath.
The numbers are estimates based on weekly surveys and statistical techniques, so they can be noisy and occasionally revised as more complete data arrives, but the report remains a key, high-frequency read on whether the physical market is tightening or loosening.
