# Total U.S. crude oil inventory | PIER20 benchmarks How much crude oil does the U.S. hold in total. Commercial plus the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Total U.S. crude oil inventory is everything held in the country's tanks: commercial stocks owned by industry plus the Strategic Petroleum Reserve owned by the federal government. The two components answer different questions. Market balance versus supply security. And they often move in opposite directions, so the total is the sum, not the signal. This page charts all three lines against each other. As of **31 July 2026**, the latest readings are Total crude stocks at **711.80 Million Barrels**, Commercial crude stocks at **406.99 Million Barrels** and SPR crude stocks at **304.81 Million Barrels**. The Total crude stocks line is down 13.9% over the past year and below its long-run median of 900.49 Million Barrels. ## Summary statistics (full history) | Series | First | Latest | Min | Max | |---|---|---|---|---| | Total crude stocks | 609.22 | 711.80 | 607.78 | 1227.68 | | Commercial crude stocks | 338.76 | 406.99 | 247.32 | 540.72 | | SPR crude stocks | 270.45 | 304.81 | 270.45 | 726.62 | ## Last 24 readings | Date | Total crude stocks | Commercial crude stocks | SPR crude stocks | |---|---|---|---| | 20 Feb 2026 | 851.25 | 435.80 | 415.44 | | 27 Feb 2026 | 854.72 | 439.28 | 415.44 | | 6 Mar 2026 | 858.54 | 443.10 | 415.44 | | 13 Mar 2026 | 864.70 | 449.26 | 415.44 | | 20 Mar 2026 | 871.63 | 456.19 | 415.44 | | 27 Mar 2026 | 876.70 | 461.64 | 415.06 | | 3 Apr 2026 | 878.04 | 464.72 | 413.32 | | 10 Apr 2026 | 872.99 | 463.80 | 409.18 | | 17 Apr 2026 | 870.77 | 465.73 | 405.05 | | 24 Apr 2026 | 857.42 | 459.50 | 397.92 | | 1 May 2026 | 849.88 | 457.18 | 392.70 | | 8 May 2026 | 836.97 | 452.88 | 384.10 | | 15 May 2026 | 819.19 | 445.01 | 374.18 | | 22 May 2026 | 806.80 | 441.69 | 365.11 | | 29 May 2026 | 790.83 | 433.71 | 357.12 | | 5 Jun 2026 | 775.68 | 426.49 | 349.19 | | 12 Jun 2026 | 758.47 | 418.22 | 340.25 | | 19 Jun 2026 | 743.33 | 412.13 | 331.19 | | 26 Jun 2026 | 734.01 | 408.36 | 325.65 | | 3 Jul 2026 | 730.85 | 411.36 | 319.49 | | 10 Jul 2026 | 726.17 | 409.67 | 316.50 | | 17 Jul 2026 | 723.12 | 411.68 | 311.45 | | 24 Jul 2026 | 712.16 | 404.51 | 307.65 | | 31 Jul 2026 | 711.80 | 406.99 | 304.81 | ## How to read this benchmark **Why the total can mislead.** The 2022-23 episode is the clearest example: the SPR release added barrels to the market while the reserve itself drained, and the total barely moved even as commercial balances swung. The total line is the arithmetic sum. the components are where the story lives. When the two components diverge, the total says less than either half. **Why the components are the comparator.** Commercial stocks respond to market forces. Refinery demand, trade flows, prices. While the SPR responds to policy. Plotting the three lines together makes the divergence visible on sight: policy drawdowns show up as the SPR line falling while the commercial line follows its own cycle, and vice versa for refills. **How the reconciliation works.** EIA publishes the total separately from the components, so the sum of commercial plus SPR reconciles to the total within source rounding. A small residual can persist because EIA rounds each series before publication. The three lines are the three published series, not one derived from the others. **Limitations.** The total double-counts nothing but tells no single story. It blends a market inventory with a policy stockpile. Treat the components as the analytic units and the total as the headline number; The chart is context for supply conditions, not investment advice. ## How this benchmark is used **The headline inventory number.** The total figure is the number cited in headlines and the EIA's own summary . 'total U.S. crude stocks fell to X'. This page keeps that headline reconcilable to its parts, so a reader can see at a glance whether a move in the total was commercial (market-driven) or SPR (policy-driven). ## Frequently asked questions **What is the current total U.S. crude oil inventory?** As of 31 July 2026, the latest readings are Total crude stocks at 711.80 Million Barrels, Commercial crude stocks at 406.99 Million Barrels and SPR crude stocks at 304.81 Million Barrels. The Total crude stocks line is down 13.9% over the past year and below its long-run median of 900.49 Million Barrels. **How often is this benchmark updated?** This benchmark is built on weekly data. The page is refreshed when the source publishes new observations; the freshness block below the chart shows the exact data-through date and when PIER20 last fetched the file. **What data sources does this chart use?** The chart is built from Total crude stocks, Commercial crude stocks and SPR crude stocks, sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). **Why do the components move in opposite directions?** Because they answer to different forces. Commercial stocks follow the market balance. Refinery runs, imports, exports, prices. The SPR follows federal policy. Drawdown authorisations and refill schedules. The 2022-23 period ran them against each other: policy released SPR barrels while commercial inventories built. **How is this different from commercial crude inventories?** The commercial page covers only industry-held stocks, which is the series the market trades. This page adds the SPR, so the total includes a policy stockpile that never trades. For market analysis, the commercial page is the cleaner number; for 'how much crude does the U.S. hold', this page is the answer. **Does the total reconcile exactly?** Within rounding, yes . EIA publishes the total and the components separately, and the sum of the components equals the total to source rounding. The chart plots the published series as-is. ## Methodology - Formula: total = commercial + SPR (EIA WCRSTUS1 ≈ WCESTUS1 + WCSSTUS1) - Frequency: Weekly - Sources: Total crude stocks (WCRSTUS1) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCRSTUS1&f=W; Commercial crude stocks (WCESTUS1) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCESTUS1&f=W; SPR crude stocks (WCSSTUS1) https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WCSSTUS1&f=W. Data via the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). - Data through: 31 July 2026 - Last refreshed: 11 Aug 2026 Full interactive chart: https://pier20.com/benchmarks/total-us-crude-inventory Disclaimer: research software output, not investment advice.