• The EIA's weekly summary for the week ending October 9, 2026 shows commercial crude stocks down 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
• The EIA states that level is 3% below the five-year average. OilPrice.com's summary of the same release said 3% above, so the primary document should be treated as authoritative.
• Crude imports fell 791,000 b/d to 6.0 million b/d and refinery runs rose 135,000 b/d to 16.6 million b/d, both consistent with a draw.
• The EIA summary does not name a single cause for the draw, and it reports no crude export figures.
• This is analysis of published data, not trading advice.

US commercial crude inventories fell 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels in the week ending October 9, 2026, according to the EIA's weekly summary. The same text puts that level 3% below the five-year average. OilPrice.com's summary of the release described stocks as 3% above the average, a direction the EIA text contradicts. The draw is real, but the stocks-above-normal framing does not hold.

What the EIA text confirms

The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report summary confirms three points for the week ending October 9, 2026. Commercial crude stocks, which exclude the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 8.6 million barrels. The level is 415.6 million barrels. That level is 3% below the five-year average. These figures come from the EIA's own highlights text, not from a restatement. We have not independently reviewed the detailed tables behind the summary.

Where the OilPrice.com summary diverges

OilPrice.com reported the same draw and the same 415.6 million-barrel level, but described stocks as 3% above the five-year average. The EIA's summary says 3% below. Where a restatement and the primary release disagree, the release governs, so this piece uses the EIA's wording. OilPrice.com also cited an API estimate of an 11.12 million-barrel draw issued a day earlier. We did not locate the API release itself, so that figure is reported, not confirmed.

Imports and refinery runs moved with the draw

The EIA summary shows two movements consistent with a crude draw. Crude oil imports decreased 791,000 b/d to 6.0 million b/d, and US refineries processed 16.6 million b/d, up 135,000 b/d, at 93.5% capacity utilization. Less crude arriving while refiners process more would tend to pull on stocks. The summary does not state this as the cause, and it reports no crude export figures, so we do not assign one.

Products moved differently from crude

The product side of the EIA summary did not mirror the crude draw. Gasoline inventories increased 3.5 million barrels and sit 4% below the five-year average. Distillate inventories decreased 2.5 million barrels and sit 12% below the five-year average. All three stock categories the summary cites are therefore below their five-year averages, with distillates the furthest below. A single week does not establish a trend.

What to watch next

The next Weekly Petroleum Status Reports will show whether imports stay near 6.0 million b/d and refinery runs hold near 16.6 million b/d, the two inputs the EIA summary reports alongside this draw. The gap to the five-year average is the figure to track for crude and distillates. This is analysis of published data, not a trading call or investment advice.