Oil Prices Sink As EIA Confirms Surprise Inventory Build

September 04, 2025

Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 2.4 million barrels during the week ending August 29, after falling 2.4 million barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.

The build brings commercial stockpiles to 420.7 million barrels according to government data, which is 4% below the five-year average for this time of year.

The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories expanded by a more modest 622,000 barrels.

Crude prices were trading down ahead of the EIA data release. At 11:49 a.m. in New York, Brent was trading at $67.12 $67.57 per barrel—down $0.48 (-0.71%) on the day and a roughly $.40 per barrel dip from last week’s level. WTI was also trading down, by $0.34 per barrel (-0.53%) in mid-morning trade.

For total motor gasoline, the EIA reported a decrease of 3.8 million barrels, after the week prior’s 1.2-million-barrel dip. The most recent figures showed average daily gasoline production decreasing to 9.9 million barrels. For middle distillates, inventories increased by 1.7 million barrels, with production increasing to 5.3 million barrels daily. Distillate inventories had decreased 1.8 million barrels in the week prior and are now 13% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Total products supplied over the last four weeks rose to 21.3 million barrels per day, up 2.5% compared to the same period last year. Gasoline demand averaged 9.1 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, while the distillate four-week average supplied at 3.9 million barrels—up 4.2 percent year over year.

Oilprice.com