US crude stockpiles jump 2.969 million barrels, far above forecast
Cushing hub supplies rose 2.266 million barrels, a day after industry data pointed to a smaller build
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Chart: USO, one-minute prices, three sessions
UpdateWednesday, September 23, 2026 at 10:40 AM ET
The EIA figures also show last week's crude build followed a decline of 640,000 barrels the week before, a steeper drop than the 578,000 barrels analysts had penciled in for this week's forecast.
US crude oil inventories rose 2.969 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said, well above the 578,000-barrel decline analysts had expected. Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub climbed 2.266 million barrels, reversing a prior drop of 342,000 barrels.
The figures follow American Petroleum Institute data a day earlier showing a smaller crude build of 1.786 million barrels and a Cushing increase of 2.082 million barrels, both far above a forecast 500,000-barrel draw. The government numbers confirm the direction industry data had signaled, though the size of the increase is larger.
Crude has been under pressure. US crude settled at $95.78 a barrel on Monday, down 4.51%, after Brent crude fell below $100 a barrel for the first time since September 9. Supply has been shifting too: Libya's Sharara field has slowed to about 127,000 barrels a day after a pipeline shutdown, while Saudi Arabia has been sending more crude out of the Gulf. President Trump said this week that oil is flowing at peak levels and predicted an Iran deal after the election, though no meeting between the two countries is currently scheduled.
Today's build breaks weeks of falling inventories and comes just after the EIA raised its 2026 price forecasts for both WTI and Brent crude. Still, the increase is modest set against recent swings in weekly inventory data, and gasoline and distillate stocks drew down over the same period, tempering any bearish reading. For now, the data leaves the near-term direction of crude prices unsettled.