U.S. Gasoline Stocks Post Record 47.5-Million-Barrel Drawdown as Exports Drain Cushion
Updated
Updated · OilPrice.com · Jun 8
U.S. Gasoline Stocks Post Record 47.5-Million-Barrel Drawdown as Exports Drain Cushion
1 articles · Updated · OilPrice.com · Jun 8
Summary
U.S. gasoline inventories fell 47.5 million barrels from 259.1 million in early February to 211.6 million by May 22—the biggest February-to-May drawdown in weekly EIA data since 1990.
211.6 million barrels is not an outright shortage level, but the speed of the decline stands out because stocks kept falling even with refinery utilization at 94.5% and gasoline output at 9.9 million barrels per day.
Demand does not fully explain the drop: gasoline supplied averaged 9.26 million barrels per day for the week and the four-week average was roughly flat from a year earlier.
Negative net imports of 5.84 million barrels per day—about 3 million more exports than a year ago—suggest U.S. fuel is being pulled into stressed global markets, including after disruption at the Strait of Hormuz.
Distillate stocks also fell 2.1 million barrels and the SPR dropped 9.1 million, leaving the fuel system with less room for refinery outages, storms or fresh geopolitical shocks as summer begins.
With emergency oil reserves at a 40-year low, how would the U.S. handle another major supply disruption?
As refiners chase export profits, are American drivers facing an unavoidable gasoline supply shock this summer?
Could banning U.S. fuel exports to lower domestic prices actually cause global energy costs to spike even higher?
U.S. Gasoline Inventories Plunge to Historic Lows Amid 2026 Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Causes, Economic Fallout, and Policy Dilemmas
Overview
Between February and May 2026, the United States faced an unprecedented drawdown in gasoline inventories, triggered by a major disruption in global oil supply. This disruption began when the US-Iran war started on February 28, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, global oil supply dropped sharply, with Gulf countries cutting production by millions of barrels per day. This severe supply shock, the worst ever recorded, directly caused U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories to fall, highlighting the vulnerability of energy markets to geopolitical events.