Cushing crude stockpiles fall to 987,000 barrels, breaking three-week build
The drop reverses weeks of rising stocks at the key US storage hub, though an industry estimate pointed the other way.
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Chart: USO, a fund that tracks crude, one-minute prices, three sessions
UpdateWednesday, October 21, 2026 at 10:34 AM ET
US commercial crude oil inventories nationwide fell 3,060,000 barrels for the week ended October 18, the EIA said. Analysts had expected a decline of 324,200 barrels. The prior week's national stockpile had dropped 8,557,000 barrels, roughly in line with the 8.6 million barrel fall reported earlier for commercial crude.
US crude oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma fell to 987,000 barrels this week, down from 1,862,000 barrels previously, according to the weekly US Energy Information Administration report covering the week ended October 16.
The decline marks a sharp turn after three straight weekly increases at the storage hub, which had been building since late September. This week's figure cuts that stockpile nearly in half.
Ahead of the EIA data, the American Petroleum Institute had estimated Cushing inventories rose by 900,000 barrels for the week, TokenPost reported, pointing in the opposite direction from the EIA figure. In the prior week's EIA report, national commercial crude inventories fell 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels, while distillate stocks declined 2.5 million barrels to 102.6 million barrels, TokenPost reported, citing the EIA.
Cushing is the delivery point for WTI futures, and tighter stocks there tend to support front-month prices relative to later-dated contracts, since the hub's levels are a direct gauge of near-term supply. Whether this week's drop marks a shift or a one-week deviation will depend on next week's report.
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