U.S. Energy Inventories See Unexpected Builds in Gas and Oil
Weekly storage data shows natural gas and crude oil inventories rising well above trailing averages.
U.S. energy storage levels climbed across both natural gas and crude oil sectors for the week ending July 3, 2026. Natural gas working underground storage in the Lower 48 States rose by 61.0 bcf, pushing total levels to 2,983.0 bcf.
This injection represents a significant deviation from historical norms. The weekly change outperformed the trailing 52-week average by 61.6 bcf and sat at the 65% percentile of changes over the past year.
Crude oil inventories followed a similar upward trajectory. Ending stocks, excluding the SPR, grew by 2,998.0 thousand barrels to reach 411,357.0 thousand barrels.
The oil build created a surprise of 3,201.7 thousand barrels relative to the trailing 52-week average. This movement also ranked at the 65% percentile of weekly changes over the last year.
Source: EIA