[REVISION HISTORY]

US wholesale and petroleum inventory trends

Updated 6 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-23 16:43 UTC → 2026-09-28 03:23 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In early August 2026, U.S. inventory data showed fluctuations in both wholesale and petroleum stocks. Revised June data from the Census Bureau indicated that U.S. wholesale inventories rose by 0.2%, a slight downgrade from an initial 0.3% estimate. During that period, petroleum stocks fell by 3.9%, and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude oil inventories grew by 2.5 million barrels, leaving total commercial stockpiles approximately 6% below the five-year average. By mid-August, data for the week ending August 7 showed a massive surge in crude oil inventories. While the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated a build of over 9 million barrels, official EIA data reported an even larger, unexpected spike of 17.4 million barrels. This brought total inventories to 424.4 million barrels, diverging sharply from economist forecasts of a 1.4 million-barrel decrease. During that same week, gasoline inventories fell by 1.0 million barrels and distillate fuel inventories edged down by 0.1 million barrels. For the week ending August 21, the trend of unexpected inventory shifts continued. EIA data showed crude oil inventories rose by only 0.095 million barrels, significantly lower than the 0.5 million barrel increase projected by analysts. Conversely, gasoline stocks saw a more substantial decline than anticipated, dropping by 2.536 million barrels. Refined product inventories also saw sharp declines, with middle distillate inventories dropping by approximately 2.2 million barrels. By early September, reports for the week ending August 28 indicated a shift in crude oil trends, with inventories experiencing a larger-than-expected decline of 4.45 million barrels. For the week ending September 18, EIA data reported that U.S. commercial crude oil stockpiles increased by approximately 3 million barrels, bringing total commercial inventories to 426.4 million barrels, which is 2% above the five-year average. By late September, EIA reports for the week ending September 11 highlighted conflicting trends.

Versions

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.