WTI Draws Support as SPR Depletion Risk Grows

U.S. commercial crude inventories fell 4.5 million barrels in the week ending August 28, per EIA data, pushing stockpiles to 424.5 million barrels—still 1% above the five-year average. But the bigger story for WTI bulls is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is edging closer to critically low levels after cushioning markets since the Iran conflict began in late February.

That SPR buffer previously prevented a sharper price spike, but with reserves thinning, the market's shock absorber is losing capacity just as Persian Gulf hostilities intensify.

This combination of drawing inventories and diminishing strategic reserves is reinforcing a firmer floor under WTI, with traders watching weekly EIA releases closely for confirmation of the tightening trend.