The numbers landed on a Wednesday. June 24, 2026. The Energy Information Administration released its Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending June 19, and the draw was bigger than anyone expected.
Commercial crude inventories fell 6.1 million barrels to 412.1 million. Oil Authority reported the drop exceeded consensus forecasts of 4.5 million barrels by 36 percent. That is 1.6 million barrels of surprise.
Stocks now sit 7 percent below the five-year seasonal average. The lowest level since January 2025.
Refineries ran at 96.1 percent of operable capacity. They processed 17.1 million barrels a day. At that throughput, the 412.1 million barrels in storage equal 24.1 days of supply cover. Oil Authority calculated the five-year mid-June norm at 443 million barrels, or 25.9 days. Current cover runs 1.8 days short of history.
Demand told a split story. Total petroleum products supplied averaged 20.5 million barrels a day over the most recent four weeks, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier. Motor gasoline demand averaged 8.8 million barrels a day, down 3 percent. Distillate fuel demand — diesel, jet fuel, heating oil — averaged 3.6 million barrels a day, up 3.2 percent. Industrial freight and aviation are outpacing consumer driving.
Western Canadian Select traded at $57.99 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate at $71.56. The spread came to $13.57. The Alberta Energy Regulator’s 2026 base case sees $12. Its tariff scenario projects $14. Wednesday’s implied spread sits inside that band.
Imperial Oil Limited and Suncor Energy produce the bulk of WCS-grade bitumen blend from Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands. Complex Gulf Coast refineries tuned for middle distillates process it efficiently. Rising distillate demand supports the grade structurally.
Crude imports averaged 5.6 million barrels a day in the latest EIA week. The four-week average remained 4 percent below the year-ago level. Near-peak refinery utilization sustains demand across all crude grades, including the heavy sour barrels that underpin WCS pricing.
Below-average inventories and high runs put a floor under Canadian crude even as WTI faces pressure from the Hormuz reopening.
The next report lands Wednesday. As it always does.
