US Distillate Inventories at Multi-Year Lows as SPR Reaches 307 Million Barrels
Strategic reserve releases since March have eroded the US supply buffer sharply, with distillate stocks well below year-ago levels and weekly draws continuing.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve held just 307.7 million barrels as of July 29 (2026-07-29), EIA data showed, down from 402.7 million barrels on the corresponding date in 2025 and the lowest level in more than a year, as coordinated releases have progressively stripped the country's main supply backstop.5
That erosion accelerated from March onward. US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced on March 11 (2026-03-11) that the Department of Energy would release 172 million barrels from the SPR as part of a coordinated international response to disrupted Gulf crude flows.5 By May 22 (2026-05-22), the reserve had already reached 365.1 million barrels, the lowest since April 2024, with API data showing 9.1 million barrels leaving the SPR in that single week alone.1
The underlying cause is a supply shock that began with military action in the Middle East on February 28 (2026-02-28) and the subsequent de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Crude oil and petroleum product prices rose sharply in the first quarter of 2026 as a result, according to EIA.4
Exporters scrambled to reroute. Saudi Arabia raised throughput on its East-West Pipeline to the port of Yanbu, which can handle 7 million barrels per day, though port export constraints limit actual flows to 5 million barrels per day. The UAE increased shipments via its overland pipeline to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, rated at 1.8 million barrels per day, invezz.com reported.2
Yet those routes have not closed the supply gap. US commercial crude inventories, excluding the SPR, stood at 404.5 million barrels on July 24 (2026-07-24), against 426.7 million barrels on July 25 (2025-07-25), EIA data showed.5 Weekly draws have been heavy: API reported crude falling by 9.1 million barrels in the week ending May 15 (2026-05-15), followed by a further 2.8 million barrel draw for the week ending May 22 (2026-05-22).1
Distillate conditions look tighter still. EIA data showed distillate fuel product supplied averaged 3.7 million barrels per day over a recent four-week period as of early July, down 1.9% from the same stretch in 2025.3 Macquarie strategists, writing ahead of the August 5 (2026-08-05) EIA weekly release, projected a further 2.0 million barrel distillate draw, alongside draws of 2.2 million barrels from gasoline stocks and 0.6 million from jet fuel.5 The bank modeled combined implied demand for those three products at roughly 14.8 million barrels per day.5
Cargo timing adds near-term uncertainty. Macquarie flagged it as a potential source of volatility in the weekly crude balance, while also projecting a 0.9 million barrel per day bounce-back in implied domestic supply.5 US output has been broadly flat: production for the week ending May 15 (2026-05-15) was 13.702 million barrels per day, just below that prior week's 13.710 million barrels per day but 310,000 barrels per day above year-ago levels, EIA data showed.1
Prices have climbed back above mid-summer levels. ICE Brent crude front-month traded at $96.95 per barrel on September 3 (2026-09-03), with NYMEX WTI crude front-month at $92.48 per barrel. NYMEX heating oil front-month, the closest US distillate proxy, sat at $4.63 per gallon on September 3 (2026-09-03), off 0.43% on the session. On June 9 (2026-06-09), when early rerouting uncertainty was most acute, WTI sat at $88.49 per barrel and Brent at $91.79 per barrel, per invezz.com; the subsequent price recovery reflects partial supply adjustment through alternative export routes rather than any resolution of the Hormuz disruption itself.2
With commercial crude stocks roughly 22 million barrels below year-ago levels and the SPR at its lowest since at least mid-2025, the volume of distillate draws in weekly EIA reports through September and October is the clearest signal of how much further the US supply buffer can stretch before winter demand lifts.5