US Oil Inventories Sag as Hormuz Turmoil Rages On

By Julianne Geiger - Jul 29, 2026, 9:44 AM CDT Crude oil inventories in the United States saw a decrease of 7.2 million barrels during the week ending July 24, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The decrease brings commercial stockpiles to 404.5 million barrels, according to government data, which are now 7% below the five-year average for this time of year.The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories had fallen by 3.296 million barrels in the period.Crude futures were trending sharply upward in early morning trade after the United States and Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes against Iran-aligned militias in Iraq in response to drone attacks targeting Saudi oil infrastructure. At 9:18 a.m. in New York, Brent futures were trading at $90.03 per barrel—up $5.94 (+7.06%) on the day but down roughly $3 per barrel from this same time last week. WTI was also trading up on the day, by $5.51 per barrel (+6.95%) on Wednesday morning at $84.77.For total motor gasoline, the EIA reported that inventories increased slightly, compared to the week prior’s 800,000-barrel build. The most recent figures showed that average daily gasoline production increased to 9.9 million barrels. For middle distillates, inventories increased by 1.1 million barrels with production increasing to an average of 5.4 million barrels daily. Distillate inventories are now 9% below the five-year average.Total products supplied—a proxy for U.S. oil demand—averaged 20.3 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, down 2.3% compared to the same period last year. Gasoline demand averaged 8.9 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, while the distillate four-week average supplied averaged 3.7 million barrels—up 4.7% year over year.By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.comMore Top Reads From Oilprice.comIran Rejects Oman’s Proposal to Evenly Divide Hormuz ControlUK Regulator Targets Data Center Land Grab on the Power GridRefined Fuels, Not Crude, Are Driving the Oil Market Crunch Download The Free Oilprice App Today Back to homepage