US Total Crude Oil Stocks Fall Further in Week Ended Oct. 23

10:44 AM EDT, 10/28/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 2 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 23 following a decrease of 3.4 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 1.9 million barrels after a 3.1-million-barrel drop in the previous week, compared with expectations for a steady reading in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET. Stocks in the SPR decreased by 100,000 in the week after falling by 300,000 in the previous week. Overall crude oil stocks were down 0.3% from the previous week and down 16% from a year earlier. Crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of the year. Gasoline stocks increased by 3.9 million barrels, compared with the 1 million barrel decrease expected. Gasoline stocks were up 1.9% from the previous week, but down 0.7% from a year earlier. Distillate stocks decreased by 1.5 million barrels in the current week, compared with an expected decrease of 1.1 million barrels. Distillate stocks were down 1.4% from the previous week and 8.3% lower than in the same week a year ago. Refineries operated at 92.8% of their capacity, down from 93.4% in the previous week.