With the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve at its lowest level since 1984, following the President’s continued sale of oil in order to lower gasoline prices and attract support for Democrats ahead of the upcoming elections, crude oil held in storage at Oklahoma’s Cushing hub increased slightly in the most recent reporting period.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported this week the amount held at the Cushing hub totaled 26.2 million barrels as of Oct, 14, 2022.
It was a gain of about 600,000 barrels compared to Oct. 7 when 25.6 million barrels were held at Cushing.
The amount of crude in storage at the northern Oklahoma series of massive petroleum tanks has increased slightly on a weekly basis since early September. As of September 9, the amount was 25 million barrels of crude oil. It increased by 700,000 barrels on Sept. 23 and gained another 300,000 by Sept. 30.
One year ago, the Cushing hub held 31.2 million barrels in storage according to the EIA.
This week’s Petroleum Report by the EIA showed the nation’s total crude in storage was 437.4 million barrels, a decline from the 439.1 million barrels reported as of Oct. 7.