The Cushing hub in Oklahoma recorded a more than 3 million barrel drop in crude oil stocks in the past week while the U.S. did the same with a 6-million barrel decline.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Cushing’s crude oil stocks fell from 33.8 million barrels on August 11 to 30.7 million barrels on August 18. That’s a drop of 3.1million barrels of crude oil.
Cushing held 34.6 million barrels at the start of August. At the beginning of July, its crude stocks were reported at 41.2 million barrels, according to the EIA.
The U.S. stocks fell from 439.7 million barrels on August 11 to 433.5 million barrels as of August 18, a plunge of 6.2 million barrels in the one week time. The nation recorded 458.1 million barrels at the start of July.
Why the large declines at both Cushing and across the nation? A report by Reuters indicated they occurred as refinery processing surged and crude output was at its highest since the COVID pandemic dealt fuel consumption a big blow.
Crude runs at the nation’s refineries rose 30,000 barrels a day last week to 16.7 million barrels per day. That’s the highest level since January of 2020. At the same time, crude exports were down by 340,000 barrels per day last week but were still considered to be strong at 4.3 million barrels a day.