The amount of crude oil in storage in the U.S. grew in the past week, causing a drop in American oil prices. At the same time, the storage dropped at the Cushing hub in Oklahoma.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the U.S. storage rose by more than 10 million barrels from 765.3 million barrels on September 29 to 775.5 million barrels as of October 6. The buildup was directly opposite of the slight declines recorded in the past few weeks.
But there was no buildup at the Cushing hub where the level grew into more dangerous territory. Cushing’s total fell 300,000 barrels, sliding from 22.1 million barrels on September 29 to 21.8 million barrels on October 6.
Cushing’s current level is 15% less than a year ago and more than 35% below the amount held in storage in 2021.