U.S. stockpiles of crude are down substantially this year amid rising demand and curtailed production, with inventories at the Cushing Hub in Oklahoma driving the downward trend.

Cushing Storage

Stocks at Cushing totaled 32.9 million bbl for the week ended Sept. 10, down 42% from the start of the year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a research note Tuesday. Oil stocks at Cushing were 26% lower than the previous five-year average, the agency said.

For the United States overall, oil inventories last week, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 6.4 million bbl from the previous week. At 417.4 million bbl, total domestic inventories were about 7% below the five-year average, EIA said.

The hub at Cushing is key because it is the delivery point...