US crude oil inventories fell 1.9 million barrels to 410.6 million in the week ending 23 October, the Energy Information Administration reported, leaving stocks 4% below their five-year average. The draw confounded a Reuters poll that had expected a small 15,000-barrel rise, and followed the American Petroleum Institute's report the day before of a 2.031 million-barrel fall. Distillate inventories fell 1.5 million barrels and now sit 10% below the five-year average, with distillate production averaging 5.2 million barrels a day.

A draw where a rise was expected

Gasoline moved the other way, rising 3.9 million barrels after a 3 million-barrel fall the previous week, with production averaging 9.2 million barrels a day. Stocks at Cushing, the Oklahoma delivery hub, fell 624,000 barrels, while Gulf Coast stocks dropped to their lowest since December 2024. Net crude imports fell 796,000 barrels a day as exports rose 1.4 million barrels a day to 4.85 million.

The export figure, disputed

One headline figure carries a dispute that readers should see. Ship-tracker Kpler said the EIA “significantly overestimated” exports, with observed loadings around 1 million barrels a day lower than the official figure. Both numbers are reported here rather than settled: the EIA's export estimate and Kpler's lower observed loadings describe the same week differently, and the gap matters because it changes how tight the market really looks.

Sources: OilPrice and Kitco (Reuters).