Crude Stocks Built 0.9 Million Barrels. Diesel Fell Again, and Sits 14% Below the Five-Year Average.

The Energy Information Administration's weekly petroleum figures for the week ended September 25, 2026 show crude oil going one way and refined products going the other. Commercial crude stocks rose 0.9 million barrels to 427.3 million, roughly 2% above the five-year average for the period. Distillate fuel stocks fell 2.3 million barrels and remain about 14% below that average. Gasoline fell 1.7 million barrels, about 7% below average.

The week's figures

• Crude oil, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: up 0.9 million barrels to 427.3 million, about 2% above the five-year average.
• Total motor gasoline: down 1.7 million barrels, about 7% below the five-year average. Gasoline production averaged 9.5 million barrels a day.
• Distillate fuel: down 2.3 million barrels, about 14% below the five-year average.
• Refinery utilisation: 92.5% of operable capacity, with inputs of 16.3 million barrels a day.
• Crude oil imports: four-week average of about 6.4 million barrels a day, 4.8% higher than the same four weeks a year earlier.
• Total products supplied: four-week average of 20.8 million barrels a day, up 2.1% on the same period last year.

Why distillate is the number to watch

Distillate is the barrel's industrial fraction: diesel for trucks, rail and farm equipment, heating oil for the Northeast, and the feedstock pool that overlaps with jet fuel. It is also the product with the least room in storage on these figures. A crude stockpile sitting 2% above its five-year average is a comfortable buffer. A distillate stockpile 14% below its average is a thin one, and a thin cushion is what turns an ordinary outage, a cold snap or a refinery turnaround into a price move rather than an inconvenience.

Crude is comfortable, products are not

The split in the week's data has a mechanical element. Refinery utilisation of 92.5% is below the near-capacity rates typical of summer driving season, and refineries that process less crude both leave more crude in storage and produce less gasoline and distillate. Autumn is also when US refineries commonly schedule maintenance. The EIA's weekly release reports the quantities; it does not attribute them to maintenance or to any other cause.

Prices on the day

OilPrice.com, reporting the release, quoted West Texas Intermediate at $90.76 a barrel, up 1.54% on the day, and Brent at $103.34, up 0.73%. Those were spot readings at the time of that report rather than settlement prices for the week.

This article reports published government data and is for informational purposes only. It is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell any commodity, future or security. Readers should consult the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report for primary figures and revisions.