Crude oil inventories in the United States experienced a substantial increase of 17.4 million barrels during the week ending August 7, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday, August 12, 2026. The increase brings total commercial stockpiles to 424.4 million barrels, positioning them just 2% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to government data.
The EIA's report follows American Petroleum Institute figures released the previous day, which had already indicated a significant inventory build of 9.072 million barrels for the same period. Crude futures markets reacted to the inventory buildup with modest weakness in morning trading. Brent crude futures were trading at $88.52 per barrel, down $0.39 or 0.44% on the day, though still up approximately $9 per barrel compared to the same time the previous week.
WTI crude was also slightly lower, trading at $82.76 per barrel, down $0.44 or 0.53% on the day, but up $7.50 per barrel week-over-week. Gasoline inventory data showed a decline of 1.0 million barrels for the week, following a 1.6 million barrel decrease in the prior week. Average daily gasoline production decreased to 9.6 million barrels.
For middle distillates, inventories fell by 100,000 barrels while production increased to an average of 5.3 million barrels daily. Distillate stockpiles are now trading 12% below their five-year average. Total products supplied, which serves as a proxy for overall U.S. oil demand, averaged 20.7 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, representing a decline of 2.1% compared to the same period last year.
Gasoline demand averaged 9.0 million barrels per day over the four-week period, while distillate supply averaged 3.7 million barrels daily, up 1.9% compared to the year-over-year period. Source: Oilprice.com, U.S. Energy Information Administration
Source: oilprice.com