The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 6.072 million barrels in the week ending June 26. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 765,000 barrels. Although commercial crude oil inventories excluding the SPR have been falling rapidly for more than two months, shedding 59.4 million barrels over the last eleven weeks, US crude inventories are only down 8 million barrels so far this year, according to API data, kept in check by draws from the SPR.