EIA: Cushing Crude Stocks fall to Decade-low levels

U.S. crude stocks fell last week, driving the Cushing, Oklahoma hub to a 10-year low, while fuel inventories surged, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 959,000 barrels to 414.6 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 3, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 184,000-barrel draw.

Brent and U.S. crude futures extended losses following the report. "A ramp-up in refinery maintenance in the coming weeks should usher in a return to crude inventory builds," said Matt Smith, analyst at Kpler.

"There's going to be a semi aggressive turnaround season this year with a lot of work being done on a lot of refineries," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 2.5 million barrels to their lowest since October 2014, and also showed their biggest weekly decline since August 2023.

"These guys like to drain the tanks at the end of the year, for tax reasons, but this is extreme, so it's definitely an issue," Mizuho's Yawger said, adding that it is difficult to move barrels out of the facility when the tanks get too