The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 2.603 million-barrel increase in US crude oil inventories for the week ending July 17, following a decrease of 564,000 barrels the previous week. Despite rapid reductions in commercial inventories over the last three months, current levels are down only 7 million barrels year-to-date, influenced by Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) draws. Concurrently, US oil production has risen slightly to 13.861 million barrels per day. Tensions in the Middle East, particularly between the US and Iran, have affected global oil prices, with Brent crude trading at $91.36 and WTI at $84.51. The latest data also recorded a drop in gasoline inventories by 1.379 million barrels and a rise in distillate inventories by 1.759 million barrels.

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	WTI Crude •15 mins	84.54	+2.06	+2.50%
	Brent Crude •11 mins	91.51	+2.29	+2.57%
	Murban Crude •16 mins	85.77	+4.01	+4.90%
	Natural Gas •15 mins	2.865	+0.005	+0.17%
	Heating Oil •15 mins	4.127	+0.008	+0.18%
	Gasoline •16 mins	3.407	+0.018	+0.53%
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Gasoline •16 mins	3.407	+0.018	+0.53%
Heating Oil •15 mins	4.127	+0.008	+0.18%
WTI Midland •3 hours	85.23	+1.89	+2.27%
Opec Basket •5 days	84.17	+0.78	+0.94%
Indian Basket •5 days	83.06	+1.64	+2.01%

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	Marine •701 days	75.08	-2.22	-2.87%
	Murban •701 days	76.34	-1.97	-2.52%
	Iran Heavy •387 days	64.96	-0.76	-1.16%
	Basra Light •1695 days	71.69	-3.60	-4.78%
	Saharan Blend •387 days	68.65	-0.72	-1.04%
	Bonny Light •142 days	67.66	+3.95	+6.20%
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Bonny Light •142 days	67.66	+3.95	+6.20%
Girassol •701 days	79.56	-1.80	-2.21%
Opec Basket •5 days	84.17	+0.78	+0.94%

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	Canadian Crude Index •1148 days	53.57	-1.23	-2.24%
	Western Canadian Select •15 hours	70.13	-0.01	-0.01%
	Canadian Condensate •15 hours	84.63	-0.01	-0.01%
	Premium Synthetic •15 hours	82.88	-0.01	-0.01%
	Sweet Crude •15 hours	76.73	-0.01	-0.01%
	Peace Sour •15 hours	74.48	-0.01	-0.01%
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Peace Sour •15 hours	74.48	-0.01	-0.01%
Light Sour Blend •15 hours	74.73	-0.01	-0.01%
Syncrude Sweet Premium •15 hours	78.98	-0.01	-0.01%
Central Alberta •15 hours	74.33	-0.01	-0.01%

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	Louisiana Light •5 days	85.93	+4.25	+5.20%
	Domestic Swt. @ Cushing •5 days	78.97	+3.54	+4.69%
	Giddings •5 days	72.72	+3.54	+5.12%
	ANS West Coast •6 days	76.62	-0.55	-0.71%
	West Texas Sour •5 days	77.97	+3.54	+4.76%
	Eagle Ford •5 days	78.97	+3.54	+4.69%
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Eagle Ford •5 days	78.97	+3.54	+4.69%
Oklahoma Sweet •5 days	79.25	+3.50	+4.62%
Kansas Common •5 days	69.32	+3.54	+5.38%
Buena Vista •478 days	70.40	+1.10	+1.59%

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US Crude Oil Inventories Build As Hormuz Shipping Headache Drags On

By Julianne Geiger - Jul 21, 2026, 4:10 PM CDT

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 2.603 million barrels in the week ending July 17. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 564,000 barrels.

Although commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have been falling rapidly for three months now, shedding just over 57 million barrels over the last thirteen weeks, US crude inventories are only down 7 million barrels so far this year, according to API data, kept in check by draws from the SPR.

For the week ending July 17, another 5.1 million barrels left the SPR, bringing the new total to 316.5 million barrels—far lower than the 2023 low reached during the Biden Administration’s huge drawdown and the lowest level in over 43 years. SPR inventories are now 420 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.

It’s important to note that the generally accepted operational minimum for oil in the SPR is between 250-300 million barrels, below which the reserve may find it difficult to pump and process oil efficiently.

US production has risen over the last few weeks in response, with production for the week ending July 10 rising to 13.861 million bpd, up slightly from 13.860 million bpd in the prior week perior, and up 486,000 bpd from a year earlier.

At 4:28 pm ET on Tuesday, Brent crude was trading up on the day at $91.36(+2.40%) as US/Iran tensions escalated once again.

WTI was also trading up on the day, by $2.03 per barrel (+2.46%) at $84.51, up $5 per barrel from this time last week.

Gasoline inventories fell this week, by 1.379 million barrels in the week ending July 17. In the week prior, gasoline inventories decreased by 1.664 million barrels. In the week prior, gasoline inventories were already 8% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.

Distillate inventories rose by 1.759 million barrels, after rising 2.3 million barrels in the week prior. Distillate inventories were already 11% below the five-year average as of the week ending July 10, the latest EIA data shows.

Cushing inventory—the inventory kept at the delivery hub for the WTI Crude futures contract—fell by another 737,000 barrels over the reporting period after rising 238,000 barrels in the week prior.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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