Rising U.S. oil consumption this year has led to crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, dropping by as much as 42 percent so far this year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday. In the week ending September 10, crude oil stocks at Cushing were at 32.9 million barrels, excluding pipeline fill and stocks in transit by water and rail. This level means that crude inventories at the hub, which is the crude oil delivery point for the WTI Crude futures contract , have declined by 42 percent since the beginning of 2021. Inventories are also now 26 percent lower than normal, based on the previous five-year (2016–2020) average for that time of year, the EIA said. Storage withdrawals from Cushing, consistent with withdrawals from inventories elsewhere in the world, generally indicate that consumption exceeds production. In June 2021, for example, stocks at Cushing fell by 35 million […]