Crude Inventories Drop By 2 Million Barrels; WTI Oil Tests Session Lows

On May 7, 2025, EIA released its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report indicated that crude inventories declined by -2 million barrels from the previous week, compared to analyst forecast of -1.7 million barrels. At current levels, crude inventories are about 7% below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Total motor gasoline inventories increased by +0.2 million barrels, compared to analyst consensus of -1.5 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories declined by 1.1 million barrels from the previous week.

U.S. crude oil imports increased by 557,000 bpd, averaging 6 million bpd. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged 5.8 million bpd.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased from 398.5 million bpd to 399.1 million bpd as U.S. continued to buy oil for strategic reserves.

Domestic oil production declined from 13.465 million bpd to 13.367 million bpd. From a big picture point of view, domestic oil production continues to move away from recent highs amid strong pullback in the oil markets.

WTI oil tested session lows after the release of the EIA report. Currently, WTI oil is trying to settle below the $58.50 level.

Brent oil declined towards the $61.60 level as traders reacted to the report. Higher-than-expected gasoline inventories may put additional pressure on oil markets.

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