US crude oil inventories fell by 300,000 barrels — API
In the United States, crude oil inventories fell by 300,000 barrels in the week ending September 4, 2026, according to estimates by the American Petroleum Institute (API). OilPrice reports. A week earlier, inventories had declined by 2.6 million barrels.
Inventories and the strategic reserve
According to API data, commercial oil inventories excluding the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) have fallen by more than 48 million barrels over the past 21 weeks. At the same time, since the beginning of the year, US crude oil inventories have increased by 2.8 million barrels; their movement was constrained by withdrawals from the strategic reserve.
In the week through September 4, another 1.2 million barrels were withdrawn from the SPR. The volume of oil in the reserve stood at 285.4 million barrels, 446 million barrels below its maximum capacity, OilPrice notes. The operational minimum for the SPR is considered to be 250–300 million barrels: below this level, the reserve may have difficulties efficiently pumping and processing oil.
Production and prices
US oil production in the week ending August 28 rose to 13.862 million barrels per day, compared with 13.843 million barrels per day in the previous week. This is 423,000 barrels per day more than a year earlier.
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As of 3:16 p.m. US Eastern Time on September 9, Brent rose by 3.62% to $101.46 per barrel, nearly $6 more than a week earlier. WTI gained 3.67% to $96.44 per barrel, also about $6 higher week on week.
Fuel inventories
US gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels after rising by 300,000 barrels in the previous week. According to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration, they had previously been 6% below the five-year average for this period.
Distillate inventories rose by 2 million barrels, although they had fallen by 300,000 barrels a week earlier. Before the start of the reporting period, they were 14% below the five-year average. Inventories in Cushing, the delivery point for WTI futures, fell by 300,000 barrels after increasing by 200,000 barrels a week earlier.
