The EIA's weekly plumbing in one view — crude and gasoline inventories against their five-year ranges, refinery utilization, production, exports and retail pump prices — then the two deep dives: the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve at weekly resolution with its 13-week drawdown pace and every OECD stockpile (total stocks, monthly; China publishes nothing), and natural gas from Henry Hub through lower-48 storage against the 5-year band to the residential rate and the winter heating fuels. This is the supply-side context under every energy price on the site.
Inventories below the five-year range mean a market with no cushion — prices spike on any disruption. Strategic releases are the fastest supply lever a government has: the 2022 US release measurably held down pump prices, and a thin reserve means the next shock passes straight into the CPI energy component. The traded gas price leaks into regulated residential rates over roughly 2–6 months — a January cold-snap spike is on the bill by spring; storage below the band into November signals a tight winter. The oil tracker adds the global balance and the reserves in the ground; the Heating Season Index projects the season's bill by fuel.
The physical side of the energy market that sets the price at the pump and on the utility bill: the EIA's weekly inventory, production, trade and price data in one table, then the strategic reserves above ground and natural gas from Henry Hub through storage to the residential rate. 10 series in 4 groups; the inventory series are compared with the average and range of the prior five years, each year's weekly figures interpolated to the same date (the EIA's method in its storage report), because an inventory only means something against its season.
Drilling rigs (Baker Hughes, all rotary rigs, oil and gas): 603 in the United States in the week to October 16, 2026 and 217 in Canada in the week to October 16, 2026; the oil tracker has the monthly counts by country.
| Series | Latest | As of | Week/month change | Year over year | vs 5-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude Oil Stocks (ex-SPR) | 415.6 M bbl | October 9, 2026 | -2.0% | -1.9% | -2.6% |
| Strategic Petroleum Reserve | 283 M bbl | October 9, 2026 | 0.0% | -30.6% | -34.7% |
| Gasoline Stocks | 208.3 M bbl | October 9, 2026 | +1.7% | -4.8% | -4.3% |
| Distillate Stocks | 102.6 M bbl | October 9, 2026 | -2.4% | -12.3% | -12.2% |
| Series | Latest | As of | Week/month change | Year over year | vs 5-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Crude Production | 13.68 Mb/d | October 9, 2026 | -2.1% | +0.3% | +7.5% |
| US Crude Exports | 4.57 Mb/d | October 9, 2026 | -4.1% | +2.3% | +25.4% |
| Series | Latest | As of | Week/month change | Year over year | vs 5-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nat Gas Storage (L48) | 3,567 Bcf | October 9, 2026 | +1.9% | -3.9% | +1.3% |
| Series | Latest | As of | Week/month change | Year over year | vs 5-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTI Spot | $101.91/bbl | October 14, 2026 | +1.0% | +71.2% | n/a |
| Brent Spot | $126.55/bbl | October 14, 2026 | +0.6% | +100.9% | n/a |
| Retail Gasoline (regular) | $4.331/gal | October 12, 2026 | -0.5% | +41.5% | n/a |
Commercial crude stocks (excluding the reserve) are 415.6 M bbl for the week of October 9, 2026, -2.6% against the five-year average for the week (range 421.2 M bbl to 438.6 M bbl). Gasoline stocks are -4.3% against their five-year average and distillates (diesel and heating oil) -12.2%. Inventories below the five-year range mean a market with no cushion — prices spike on any disruption, and the spike passes into the CPI energy component within weeks; inventories above the range absorb shocks. The pump price is the shelf end of the crude chain and enters the Gauge daily through the AAA feed (Gauge 3.45%, official CPI 3.7%).
The US reserve held 283 million barrels on October 9, 2026, 0.00 million on the week and draining at 368 thousand barrels a day over the last thirteen weeks; it is 61.1% below its peak of 726.6 million barrels (January 1, 2010). Commercial crude in industry tanks was 415.6 million barrels the same week. Strategic releases are the fastest supply lever a government has: the 2022 release was the largest in the reserve's history and measurably held down pump prices, and a thin reserve means the next shock passes straight through.
| Country | Total oil stocks | Month | Month change | Year over year | vs 5-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,537 M bbl | June 2026 | -2.9% | -6.8% | -9.5% |
| Japan | 425 M bbl | June 2026 | +0.2% | -15.5% | -16.4% |
| Germany | 249 M bbl | June 2026 | +0.5% | -2.7% | -6.6% |
| Canada | 190 M bbl | June 2026 | -4.6% | -0.7% | -1.2% |
| South Korea | 172 M bbl | June 2026 | +1.0% | -12.4% | -7.7% |
| France | 148 M bbl | June 2026 | -2.9% | -1.9% | -3.5% |
| Italy | 125 M bbl | June 2026 | -0.5% | +3.1% | +2.0% |
| United Kingdom | 66 M bbl | June 2026 | -0.4% | -3.5% | -5.7% |
Total oil stocks per OECD country (EIA international) — industry AND public stocks combined; most members do not publish the strategic share separately. Non-OECD strategic reserves (notably China) are not officially disclosed. Only the US breaks out its strategic share weekly; Japan, Germany and South Korea hold most of theirs as government or agency stocks under the IEA's 90-day rule; China, believed to run the second-largest strategic reserve, publishes nothing.
Lower-48 working gas in storage was 3,567 Bcf for the week of October 9, 2026, +1.3% against the five-year average for the week. Storage below the band going into November means a tight winter and price spikes; above it, the market relaxes. Henry Hub is a traded price that moves by the minute; the residential rate is regulated and resets with a lag, so the spot price leaks into bills over roughly two to six months — a January cold-snap spike is on the bill by spring. Gas heats about half of US homes, heating oil matters in the Northeast and propane in the rural Midwest; the Heating Season Index projects this winter's bill at $932 for the typical home, +0.7% against last winter.
EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report (stocks, production, exports, refinery utilization, retail gasoline), EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report, EIA spot prices and International Energy Statistics (country stocks; several smaller OECD members withhold values), the Short-Term Energy Outlook for the OECD forward path, and Baker Hughes rig counts. The oil tracker adds the global production balance and reserves in the ground.