The Cushing Hub in northern Oklahoma continued another week in a yo-yo fashion, moving up slightly from a critically low level of above 18 million barrels of oil.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported the site, considered to be the pipeline crossroads of America, held 20,955,000 barrels of crude oil the week of July 31. It was a gain from the 18,599,000 barrels recorded as of July 24 and the 19,370,000 barrels the week of July 17.
The nearly 21 million barrels held as of the most recent reporting period means the Cushing Hub is at operational minimums which is described by some experts as 20 million barrels. Cushing has been operating at levels between 18 and 19 million barrels for several weeks. Some observers contend it affects the pressure needed to keep oil moving from the large number of pipelines into the large storage tanks. It’s believed that continued operations at such extreme levels might possibly lead to a shutdown in order to prevent damage to the system.
Nearly two dozen interconnected crude oil lines lead into Cushing with a reported daily flow volume of 6.5 million barrels a day inbound and outbound capacity. The Hub holds an estimated 90 million barrels of crude oil in aboveground crude storage tanks. Just three years ago, the EIA reported the Cushing Hub held more than 43 million barrels of crude oil. In January of 2021, the amount in storage was more than 51 million barrels. It reached more than 60 million barrels in January 2021 and 65 million in May 2020.
What makes the Hub critical is that it is considered the destination or transshipment point for massive long-haul systems such as the Keystone Pipeline, Seaway, and Pony Express moving oil from Canada, the Permian Basin, the Bakken and the Rockies toward regional refineries and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
