r/stocks
Cushing Hub nearly empty?
Crude oil inventories at the Cushing Hub fell to a 12-year low, nearing operational limits and highlighting the U.S. role in filling global supply gaps.
- Cushing Hub crude inventories dropped to a 12-year low, signaling tight supply and strong demand.
- U.S. oil producers are filling the global supply gap caused by Middle East disruptions, increasing their strategic importance.
- The hub is nearing operational stress levels, making it difficult to supply usable oil due to structural minimums.
- Heavy reliance on the Strait of Hormuz exposes the U.S. and global oil markets to severe geopolitical risks.
The amount of crude oil inventory at the Cushing Hub in Oklahoma fell to a 12-year low in the past week, according to the latest report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and in the opinion of some experts, puts the hub at nearly empty. Dangerously close to empty.
The inventories at the northern Oklahoma storage site, known as the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World,” fell by 6 million barrels. Considered the delivery hub for West Texas Intermediate futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Cushing’s new total as of this week was just 19 million barrels. Cushing is where dozens of pipelines intersect, carrying oil from the Permian, Bakken, SCOOP/STACK, Rockies and Western Canada.
The new level means the Cushing Hub is dangerously close to “empty” according to some experts. The 19 million barrels reflects about 25% of the 76-million barrel working capacity at the hub. It also results in an operational stress level which is the point where tanks struggle to supply customers with usable oil due to pipeline residue and structural minimums.
As CNN reported two weeks ago, when the reserves at the Cushing Hub dropped below 20 million, operators are essentially “scraping the bottom of the barrel of what is largely unusable sludge.”
It puts more pressure on the U.S. to make sure the Strait of Hormuz is open to crude oil tankers. The situation in Cushing because oil flowed out of the hub faster than oil drilling companies in the U.S. can refill it. When the war broke out in late February, it stopped the flow of tankers coming out of the Middle East and interrupted supplies to other nations. As a result, the U.S. became the supplier of oil for those countries.
Two weeks ago, Cushing held 20 million barrels of crude oil, a drop of 1.6 million barrels from the previous week.
Two years ago, the total of crude held at the large tank farm was 34.1million barrels.
https://okenergytoday.com/2026/06/cushing-hub-nearly-empty/