US Total Crude Oil Stocks Rise in Week Ended Sept. 18

10:47 AM EDT, 09/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 2.6 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 18 following a decrease of 1.0 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks increased by 3.0 million barrels after a 600,000-barrel decrease in the previous week, compared to the 690,000 barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Stocks in the SPR declined by 400,000 in the week after a similar decline in the previous week. Overall crude oil stocks were up 0.4% from the previous week but were still 13.4% lower than a year earlier. Crude oil inventories are about 2% above the five-year average for this time of the year. Gasoline stocks declined by 1.7 million barrels, compared to the 500,000-barrel increase expected. Gasoline stocks were down 0.8% from the previous week and were 4.9% lower a year earlier. Distillate stocks fell by 400,000 barrels in the current week, compared with an expected decrease of 680,000 barrels. Distillate stocks were down 0.4% from the previous week and were 12.7% lower than in the same week a year ago. Refineries operated at 94.0% of their capacity, down from 96.8% in the previous week.