By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories were down sharply last week as imports fell and exports rose, while product stocks saw bigger-than-expected withdrawals, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were down by 9 million barrels at 419.8 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 13 and were about 5% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were expected to have risen by 1.1 million barrels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts.

Oil stored in the SPR increased by 229,000 barrels to 415.4 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 1.1 million barrels to 24 million barrels.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.7 million barrels a day, up by 22,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Crude oil imports fell by 281,000 barrels a day to 6.5 million barrels a day, while exports were up by 851,000 barrels a day at 4.6 million barrels a day.

Refineries ran at 91% of capacity, up from 89.4% the week before, with crude input to refineries rising by 77,000 barrels a day to 16.1 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have edged up by 0.2 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories decreased by 3.2 million barrels to 255.8 million barrels, their first decline in 14 weeks, and were 3% above the five-year average. Gasoline demand rose by 448,000 barrels a day to 8.7 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 700,000 barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks fell by 4.6 million barrels to 120.1 million barrels and were 5% below the five-year average for the time of year. Distillate inventories were forecast to have fallen by 1.4 million barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended Feb. 13: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -9.0          -3.2           -4.6                 1.6 
Forecast:           1.1          -0.7           -1.4                 0.2 
 

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

February 19, 2026 12:33 ET (17:33 GMT)

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