EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change comes in at 2.01M against 1.978M consensus

The EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change for the week ending 2026-07-22 reported an increase of 2.01M barrels. This figure came in slightly above the consensus expectation of 1.978M, representing a 1.6% surprise. The previous week’s reading was -1.692M.

Following the release, market reaction across major USD pairs was generally subdued compared to historical averages. Fifteen minutes after the data, AUDUSD was up 2.7 pips, EURUSD was down 0.5 pips, and GBPUSD was down 2.8 pips. NZDUSD gained 1.9 pips, while USDCAD rose 2.8 pips, USDCHF increased by 2.2 pips, and USDJPY fell 2.1 pips. These movements are small relative to their respective median 1-hour moves, which typically range from 6 to 11 pips. XAUUSD, however, saw a more notable move, rising 46 pips within 15 minutes, which is consistent with a top-quarter reaction for this asset, where moves of 45+ pips are observed after past releases.