US Crude Stockpiles Surge 45 Million Barrels in Seven Weeks as Refineries Pull Back

The world has been watching the oil price. It should also be watching the oil volume.

The Energy Information Administration's Weekly Petroleum Status Report, released today, shows US commercial crude oil inventories at 464.7 million barrels for the week ending April 3 -- up 44.9 million barrels from the 419.8 million recorded just seven weeks earlier on February 13. That's roughly 4.5 times the normal seasonal build for this period.

For context: over the same weeks last year, inventories rose by about 10 million barrels. This year's build is the steepest since the demand collapse of early 2020.

Where the oil is going

The build isn't happening because the US is pumping more crude. Weekly production has been flat at approximately 13.6--13.7 million barrels per day throughout the conflict, barely budging despite WTI prices surging from $72 in late February to $114 by early April.

Instead, the crude is piling up because refineries have pulled back. Refinery inputs -- the amount of crude that processing plants consume each day -- dropped from 17.2 million barrels per day in early January to 16.6 million by the first week of April. That 600,000-barrel-per-day decline means roughly 4.2 million barrels per week of crude that would normally be processed into gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel is instead sitting in storage.