US crude oil stocks up 3.4 mln bbl in week ended Fri, exports rise, says EIA
This story was originally published at 11:11 IST on 15 January 2026
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MUMBAI – US crude oil inventories, excluding those in strategic petroleum reserves, rose by 3.4 million barrels to 422.4 million barrels in the week ended Friday, the US Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report. Analysts at Dow Jones had expected a fall of 1.4 million barrels. US crude oil inventories were about 3% below the five-year average for this time of the year, according to the report.
Petrol inventories rose by 9 million barrels from the previous week to 251 million barrels in the week ended Friday. Analysts polled by Dow Jones had expected an increase of 1.7 million barrels in petrol inventories. Distillate fuel stocks fell slightly to 129.2 million barrels during the week. Analysts polled by Dow Jones did not expect any change in the distillate stocks. Distillate fuel stocks were around 4% below the five-year average for this time of the year.
According to the report, refinery utilisation stood at 95.3%. Crude oil production in the US, the largest producer of the commodity, fell by 58,000 barrels per day to 13.75 million barrels per day in the week ended Friday.
US crude oil exports rose by 43,000 barrels per day to 4.30 million barrels per day, according to the report. Strategic petroleum reserves rose by 200,000 barrels to 413.7 million barrels during the week.
US crude oil imports averaged 7.1 million barrels per day in the week, rising by 752,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, US crude oil imports averaged around 6.1 million barrels per day, 5.7% lower than the corresponding period last year.
Of the top 10 countries that export crude oil to the US, imports from three countries fell in the week ended Friday. Imports from Saudi Arabia fell the most, by 65,000 barrels per day to 288,000 barrels per day. On the other hand, imports from Brazil rose the most, by 175,000 barrels to 343,000 barrels per day, according to the report.
Inventories of crude oil at Cushing, Oklahoma, a key delivery point for West Texas Intermediate crude, rose by 700,000 barrels to 23.6 million barrels in the week ended Friday. Cushing is the designated delivery point for NYMEX crude oil futures. Market participants closely monitor stockpiles in Cushing, which has a storage capacity of about 90 million barrels.
At 0957 IST, the most-active March contract of crude oil on the NYMEX was down over 3% at $59.84 per barrel.
Inventory (mln barrels) | Weekly change (%) | |
Crude oil | 422.4 | 0.8 |
Petrol | 251 | 3.7 |
Kerosene-type jet fuel | 43.1 | (-)2 |
Distillate fuel oil | 129.2 | 0.0 |
Propane/propylene | 95.7 | (-)2.4 |
Unfinished oils | 78.9 | (-)0.4 |
Other oils | 309.4 | (-)1.7 |
End
US$1 = INR 90.29
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Udita S. Jaiswal
Edited by Nishant Maher
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