The US just ran through its crude oil reserves at a pace not seen in nearly eight years. Commercial crude inventories fell to approximately 408.4 million barrels for the week ending June 26, according to the Energy Information Administration, marking the lowest stockpile level since September 2018.
The latest weekly draw came in at 3.775 million barrels.
A month of relentless drawdowns
The week prior saw an even larger decline of 6.088 million barrels, and some weeks during the month posted drawdowns exceeding 7 million barrels. Consecutive weeks of multi-million barrel draws have pushed current inventory levels roughly 3% to 7% below the five-year average.
Not everything pointed in the same direction, though. The Cushing, Oklahoma hub, the key delivery point for West Texas Intermediate crude futures, actually saw inventories tick up by 709,000 barrels. That broke a nine-week streak of declines at the hub.
