Gulf Coast distillate inventory ·EIA week ending August 21, 2026
Gulf Coast distillate storage holds 39.6 M bbl as of August 21, 2026, down 2.5% week over week. It is currently drawing faster than usual.
The Desk's read
The draw is what stands out: Gulf Coast distillate, the district's diesel and heating fuel, fell 8.2% over 30 days, a trailing 4-report pace at the 4th percentile of all such stretches in the 37-year record, near the drain-side extreme. The pile itself is not thin. At 39.6 MM bbl as of 2026-08-21, stocks sit in the 64th percentile of that record, mid-range; a fast drain from a mid-range pile leaves it mid-range. We track next Wednesday's EIA weekly report; watch whether the drain pace holds.
Gulf Coast (PADD 3) distillate inventory
September 3, 2021 to August 21, 2026
Weekly PADD 3 distillate fuel oil stocks, in millions of barrels. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
Gulf Coast distillate stocks are drawing faster than usual. We watch US distillate inventories weekly.
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About this series
Distillate fuel oil, the category covering diesel and heating oil, held in tanks and terminals across PADD 3, the Gulf Coast district. Reported weekly by the U.S. EIA as one of five regional cuts of the national distillate series. The Gulf Coast refines far more diesel than it burns and ships the surplus out by pipeline and export dock. PADD 3 stocks move with refinery output and export demand, and the district is the source pool the East Coast draws on through the Colonial Pipeline.
Today's reading sits in the middle of the EIA record going back to 1990. This is where Gulf Coast distillate stocks spend most of their time.
Weekly PADD 3 distillate fuel oil stocks, in millions of barrels. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Updated weekly. View this series at eia.gov ↗
Gulf Coast distillate inventory: common questions
- What is PADD 3?
- PADD 3 is the Gulf Coast district of the Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts, the five regions the EIA uses to report US petroleum statistics. It covers Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. The district lines were drawn for World War II fuel allocation and remain the standard regional cut of US oil data.
- What does this page track?
- The total volume of distillate fuel oil, covering diesel and heating oil, held in tanks and terminals across PADD 3 (Gulf Coast). It is the EIA's regional cut of the same weekly series the national distillate page tracks, and the five districts sum to the US total.
More questions
- Why do Gulf Coast distillate inventories matter?
- The Gulf Coast refines far more diesel than it burns and ships the surplus out by pipeline and export dock. PADD 3 stocks move with refinery output and export demand, and the district is the source pool the East Coast draws on through the Colonial Pipeline.
- How often is this figure updated?
- The EIA publishes the figure every week, typically Wednesday around 10:30 a.m. Eastern for the prior Friday's week. This page reads that same EIA series and shows the latest reading with its as-of date.