By Anthony Harrup

U.S. crude oil inventories fell for the first time in eight weeks as exports picked up and imports declined from the week before, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Commercial crude oil stocks excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve were down by 913,000 barrels at 463.8 million barrels in the week ended April 10 and were about 1% above the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted a 900,000 barrel increase in crude stocks.

Oil stored in the SPR fell by 4.1 million barrels to 409.2 million barrels as the Energy Department released more emergency supplies in response to the war in the Persian Gulf that choked off exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil stocks at Cushing, Okla., the Nymex delivery hub, fell by 1.7 million barrels to 29.8 million barrels.

The EIA estimated U.S. crude oil production at 13.6 million barrels a day, unchanged from the previous week. Crude oil imports fell by 1 million barrels a day to 5.3 million barrels, and exports rose by 1.1 million barrels a day to 5.2 million barrels.

Refinery capacity use fell by 2.4 percentage points to 89.6%, with crude input to refineries down by 208,000 barrels a day at 16 million barrels. Refinery runs were forecast to have risen by 0.3 of a percentage point.

Gasoline inventories were down by 6.3 million barrels to 232.9 million barrels against an expected 1.7 million barrel draw in the Journal survey, and were 1% above the five-year average. Gasoline demand was up by 524,000 barrels a day at 9.1 million barrels a day.

Distillate fuel stocks fell by 3.1 million barrels to 111.6 million barrels and were about 6% below the five-year average for the time of year, the EIA said. Distillate inventories were forecast to have fallen by 2.1 million barrels.

 
Change in U.S. oil inventories for the week ended April 10: 
 
                   Crude       Gasoline      Distillates        Refinery Use 
EIA data:          -0.9          -6.3           -3.1                -2.4 
Forecast:           0.9          -1.7           -2.1                 0.3 
 

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 15, 2026 10:54 ET (14:54 GMT)

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