EIA Reports 6.7 Million-Barrel U.S. Crude Draw for Week of June 25
A sustained four-week drawdown pace of 1.15 million barrels per day and persistent Hormuz disruption underpin NYMEX heating oil despite sharply lower crude benchmarks.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory decline of 6.7 million barrels for the week ending June 25, extending a run of draws that has compressed commercial stocks well below their five-year seasonal average. NYMEX heating oil front-month futures held at $3.19 per gallon on Friday (2026-07-03), supported by a supply picture that remains tighter than headline crude prices alone reflect.1
Commercial crude inventories excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve stood at 452.3 million barrels for that reporting week. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the benchmark delivery point for NYMEX WTI crude front-month futures, fell 1.5 million barrels in the same period to 40.3 million barrels. WTI crude front-month was trading at $69.04 per barrel on Friday (2026-07-03).1
The draw pace has held over the past month. On a four-week rolling basis, all U.S. crude inventories including the SPR have been declining at 1.15 million barrels per day, according to Bloomberg estimates based on EIA data. That pace indicates sustained demand pull rather than a calendar anomaly.1
An earlier EIA reading placed commercial stocks at 428.3 million barrels, 7% below the five-year average for that time of year. Gasoline inventories fell 700,000 barrels in the same week, landing about 6% under the seasonal norm and partly reversing a prior-week build of 3.9 million barrels.2
The Strait of Hormuz remains largely disrupted following military action that began in early 2026. Through the waterway, nearly 20% of global oil supply previously flowed; the EIA has characterised it as effectively closed. That has narrowed U.S. import availability and amplified the domestic draw trajectory even as partial relief has emerged. Wood Mackenzie noted that a fleet of empty tankers dispatched to the United States in late April 2026 at the direction of President Trump began returning with crude during the week of May 18 (2026-05-18).5,3
The International Energy Agency warned as of May 8, 2026 that global oil buffers were being drawn at a record pace, with 164 million barrels released by governments and industry combined by that date. Analysts placed cumulative supply losses from the Hormuz disruption at roughly 1 billion barrels, against the IEA's total planned strategic release of 400 million barrels.4
Markets had priced a Hormuz reopening by the end of May 2026 or early June 2026. ICE Brent crude front-month futures stood at $72.22 per barrel on Friday (2026-07-03), down sharply from the $109.26 close recorded on Friday (2026-05-15), when China offered no indication it would press Iran to restore tanker flows. How much of that compression reflects anticipated supply recovery versus a demand revision is not apparent from the futures strip alone.4
For NYMEX heating oil front-month, consecutive crude draws translate into a feedstock signal. Tighter crude stocks at Cushing and at the national level narrow the buffer refiners draw on when product demand rises. Distillates respond to that compression more directly than finished gasoline, given their closer link to crude input costs and exposure to industrial and transport demand cycles.
The Cushing level at 40.3 million barrels, down 1.5 million on the week, and the sustained four-week draw pace of 1.15 million bpd are the metrics that will test whether the drawdown pace holds into July. A third consecutive Cushing draw below 40 million barrels would remove a material buffer as summer demand peaks.1