This Week in Energy — October 22, 2026

The Tip Desk · This Week in Energy · October 22, 2026 · 2 min read

U.S. crude inventories declined as distillate and natural gas stocks increased. Valero reported a completed refinery project, and Kinder Morgan said a gathering expansion serving the Haynesville Basin was nearing completion.

U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels in the week ended October 16, according to the Energy Information Administration. Distillate fuel oil stocks increased by 1.7 million barrels to 104.3 million barrels. Refineries operated at 93.4% of operable capacity, down 0.1 percentage point from the preceding week.

Natural gas in underground storage across the Lower 48 states increased by 77 billion cubic feet over the same week, reaching 3,644 billion cubic feet on October 16.

WTI crude at Cushing averaged $108.70 a barrel across the three available trading days from October 16 through October 20, $10.67 above the prior week's average. Brent Europe spot crude averaged $117.79 a barrel over the same available days, $9.94 below the prior week's average. Each comparison uses three observations against five in the preceding week; neither current average covers a full trading week.

Kinder Morgan said in its October 21 update that the Plantation North expansion on its KinderHawk gathering system was nearing completion, with completion expected by year-end. The company said the project supports projected production growth in the Haynesville Basin and increasing LNG demand along the Gulf Coast. It is backed by acreage dedications lasting for the life of the leases.

Valero reported on October 22 that it had completed the FCC unit optimization project at its St. Charles refinery during the third quarter, on schedule and within budget. The project was operational, and Valero said it expected the work to enhance the refinery's ability to produce higher-value products.

Weatherford said on October 20 that it had completed its acquisition of NCS Multistage, adding to its completions portfolio and capabilities in reservoir diagnostics and well performance. It also reported that Equinor had awarded it a two-year extension and a new offshore completions award across agreements serving the Statfjord and Oseberg licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.