US Distillate Inventories Tighten as SPR Reserves Dwindle

For the week ending August 14, commercial crude oil inventories in the United States recorded a modest decline of 328,000 barrels. This follows a significant build of 9.072 million barrels in the previous week, driven largely by fluctuations in import-export volumes and a 5.3-million-barrel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. While commercial stocks excluding the SPR have shed over 49 million barrels since April, year-to-date inventories remain up by 1.88 million barrels.

Market pressure is increasingly visible in the distillate sector, where inventories dropped by 2.797 million barrels, compounding a 596,000-barrel decline from the prior week. These levels currently sit 12% below the five-year average. Conversely, gasoline stocks saw a slight recovery, climbing 1.076 million barrels despite lingering 6% below historical norms. At the Cushing delivery hub, inventories fell by 1.439 million barrels, reversing the previous week's gains.

Domestic production reached 13.805 million barrels per day for the week ending August 7, marking a marginal increase from the prior period and a 521,000-barrel-per-day climb over the last year. Following these reports, Brent crude ticked up to $91.10, while WTI futures rose to $85.90, reflecting a steady week-over-week gain as traders weigh shrinking distillate buffers against the ongoing depletion of national reserves.