Crude Inventories Drop by 6 Million Barrels; WTI Oil Tests The $62.50 Level

On August 20, 2025, EIA released its Weekly Petroleum Status Report. The report indicated that crude inventories decreased by -6 million barrels from the previous week, compared to analyst consensus of -1.3 million barrels. At current levels, crude inventories are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of the year.

Gasoline inventories declined by -2.7 million barrels, compared to analyst forecast of -0.8 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories increased by +2.3 million barrels from the previous week.

Crude oil imports declined by 423,000 bpd, averaging 6.5 million bpd. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged 6.4 million bpd.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve increased from 403.2 million barrels to 403.4 million barrels. The SPR continues to grow at a slow pace.

Domestic oil production increased from 13.327 million bpd to 13.382 million bpd. From a big picture point of view, domestic oil production stabilized after recent pullback.

WTI oil was mostly flat after the release of the EIA report. Currently, WTI oil is trying to settle above the $62.50 level.

Brent oil made an attempt to settle above the $66.50 level as traders reacted to the report. Falling crude inventories may provide some support to oil markets, although traders remain worried about oversupply due to rising production from OPEC+ countries.

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