Jun 23, 2026
The oil complex is draining across every tier, with SPR crude at its lowest since July 1983 and Cushing down 26.9% in 30 days, while the metals board shows two extremes sitting still.
SPR crude sits at 340.3 MM bbl, the lowest reading since July 1983, the 2nd percentile of a 44-year record. The week took another 2.6% off it and 30 days took 11.4%; this is a low that keeps getting lower.
Cushing rhymes with the SPR but moves faster. At 20.0 MM bbl, the lowest since October 2014, it's down 7.4% on the week and 26.9% over 30 days. Commercial crude at 418.2 MM bbl is the calmer cousin, still at the 77th percentile but bleeding 7.7% over the month. The whole crude stack is drawing in the same direction at three different speeds.
On the metals side, the story is the opposite tension: extreme levels with calm velocity. Tokyo retail gold sits at the 99th percentile of a 37-year record yet moved just 0.5% on the day. LME aluminum at 313,800 mt, the lowest since September 2022 and the 1st percentile of its history, slipped only 0.5%. Position is extreme; speed is quiet.
Copper splits the difference. COMEX stocks hit a 5-month high while managed-money net longs sit at the 92nd percentile but have shed 7.4% over 30 days. The data shows positioning leaning one way as the physical metal builds the other; where level and rate-of-change disagree like this, the gap is the signal worth tracking.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 340.3 MM bbl, the lowest level since July 1983 and the 2nd percentile of a 44-year record. It fell 2.6% on the week and 11.4% over 30 days, a low that's still declining.
Cushing, the main US storage hub, sits at 20.0 MM bbl, the lowest since October 2014. The drawdown is sharp: down 7.4% on the week and 26.9% over 30 days.
Tokyo retail gold sits at ¥24,079/g, the 99th percentile of a 37-year record. The day added just 0.5%, though the price is down 6.2% over 30 days. An extreme level moving slowly.
Commercial crude stocks are at 418.2 MM bbl, the 77th percentile of the 44-year record. Down 1.9% on the week and 7.7% over the month, the calmest of the three crude tiers but still drawing down.
LME aluminum stocks fell to 313,800 mt, the lowest since September 2022 and the 1st percentile of an 18-year record. The daily move was tiny at 0.5%, but 30 days took 7.6% off the pile.
SLV's silver-backed shares outstanding sit at 533.9M, the 86th percentile of a 20-year record. Up 0.6% on the day, down 1.2% over the month, holdings remain near the high end of their range.
COMEX copper stocks reached 654,038 short tons, a 5-month high. Up 0.3% on the day and 3.3% over 30 days, the metal is building, not draining.
Managed-money net long copper positions stand at 69,008 contracts, the 92nd percentile of a 20-year record. The position is crowded near the top of its range but easing, down 7.4% over 30 days.
Sources: CME Group COMEX warehouse reports, LME warehouse data, EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report, ETF issuer filings, and venue price quotes. Every figure is computed straight from the stored source data; percentiles rank today's level against the series' full record.