U.S. Crude Stocks Surge 17.4 Million Barrels, Largest Weekly Build in 3.5 Years

U.S. commercial crude inventories jumped 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million in the week ended August 7, 2026 — the largest weekly build in 3.5 years, per EIA data reported by Reuters. Weekly stock swings routinely land within a few million barrels; a double-digit build is the kind of outlier that forces position rethinks across physical and paper crude markets.