EIA Cushing Crude Oil Stocks Change comes in at -1.314M against 0.919M consensus

The EIA Cushing Crude Oil Stocks Change for August 19, 2026, registered a draw of -1.314M. This figure came in significantly below the consensus expectation of a 0.919M build. The actual print represents a -243.0% surprise compared to the consensus. The previous reading was a build of 1.611M. This indicates a notable reduction in crude oil inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub.

Following the release, market reactions were observed across several pairs. Fifteen minutes after the data, AUDUSD was up +2.0 pips, EURUSD was up +4.1 pips, GBPUSD was up +1.3 pips, and NZDUSD was up +3.0 pips. USDCAD was up +0.3 pips. USDCHF moved down -12 pips, and USDJPY moved down -13 pips. XAUUSD saw a move of +42 pips. For context, the median 1-hour move for AUDUSD is 7 pips, for EURUSD 8 pips, for GBPUSD 11 pips, for NZDUSD 6 pips, for USDCAD 10 pips, for USDCHF 7 pips, and for USDJPY 8 pips. XAUUSD typically sees a median 1-hour move of 22 pips. The 15-minute move in XAUUSD is approaching its top-quarter historical moves of 46+ pips. Other pairs have shown movements that are relatively small compared to their typical median 1-hour moves.