By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories posted a large drop last week amid record exports and a decline in imports, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 6.2 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels in the week ended April 24, and were about 1% above the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Crude stocks were seen down by 100,000 barrels in a survey of analysts by The Wall Street Journal.

The Energy Department accelerated emergency releases from the SPR, with oil held in the reserve down by 7.1 million barrels at 397.9 million barrels. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 796,000 barrels to 29.8 million barrels.

U.S. crude oil production was unchanged at around 13.6 million barrels a day. Crude oil imports were down by 329,000 barrels a day at 5.8 million barrels a day, while exports rose by 1.6 million barrels a day to a record 6.4 million barrels a day.

Refinery capacity use rose by half of a percentage point to 89.6%, with crude input to refineries up by 85,000 barrels a day at 16.1 million barrels a day. Refinery runs were forecast to have risen by 0.4 of a percentage point in the Journal survey.

Gasoline inventories fell for an 11th consecutive week and were down by 6.1 million barrels at 222.3 million barrels, or 2% below the five-year average. Gasoline demand rose by 49,000 barrels a day to 9.1 million barrels a day. Gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 2.1 million barrels.

Distillate fuel stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels to 103.6 million barrels and were 11% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Distillate inventories were forecast to have fallen by 1.8 million barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended April 24: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -6.2          -6.1           -4.5                 0.5 
Forecast:          -0.1          -2.1           -1.8                 0.4 
 

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

April 29, 2026 10:58 ET (14:58 GMT)

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