Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 4.5 million barrels during the week ending August 28, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Commercial stockpiles now stand at 424.5 million barrels, positioning them 1% above the five-year average for this period.
The EIA figures follow preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which reported a decline of 2.6 million barrels for the same period. The two reports showed consistency in signaling weakness in crude oil storage levels. Crude futures trading reflected modest downward pressure following the inventory release.
Brent crude was trading at $94.01 per barrel, down $0.64 or 0.68% on the day but maintaining a gain of approximately $7 per barrel compared to the previous week. WTI crude declined by $0.98 per barrel, or 1.09%, to $89.24 per barrel on Wednesday morning, despite showing a weekly gain of roughly $8 per barrel. Motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.2 million barrels, following a larger decline of 2.5 million barrels the previous week.
Average daily gasoline production remained steady at 9.8 million barrels. Middle distillates showed different dynamics, with inventories increasing by 800,000 barrels as production fell to an average of 5.1 million barrels daily. Distillate stockpiles are currently 14% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Total products supplied, which serves as a proxy for overall U.S. petroleum demand, averaged 20.4 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, representing a 4% decline compared to the same four-week period last year. Gasoline demand averaged 8.9 million barrels per day over the four-week period, while distillate demand averaged 3.7 million barrels daily, down 6% year-over-year. The decline in fuel demand appears to be the primary driver behind the inventory reductions observed in the latest EIA data.
Source: OilPrice.com, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), American Petroleum Institute (API)
Source: oilprice.com