US Crude Inventories Post Surprise Build as Brent Slides 4% Below $88.50

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday, 25 August 2026, that US crude oil inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week ending August 21, well above the 1.9 million-barrel build analysts had forecast. The same week saw another 3.7 million barrels drawn from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), bringing total SPR inventory to 289.7 million barrels, a level close to the 250 to 300 million-barrel operational minimum below which efficient pumping and processing becomes difficult.

Gasoline inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels over the same period. Brent crude dropped 4.11% on Tuesday to $88.38 a barrel, nearly $3 lower on the week, while WTI fell 3.39% to $82.13. US crude production hit a record 13.83 million barrels per day in the week ending August 14.