The International Energy Agency has released its Oil Market Report for August 2026, the latest installment of the Paris-based agency's monthly assessment of global crude and refined-product balances.

The IEA publishes its Oil Market Report roughly midway through each month, drawing on submission data from member governments, industry reporting, tanker-tracking services, and the agency's own demand modelling. The August 2026 edition arrives with the market's attention fixed on several open questions: the pace of demand growth across OECD and non-OECD economies, OPEC+ supply policy heading into the group's next scheduled meeting, and inventory draws or builds across the OECD's three main regions — North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Readers of Rig & Refinery will find the report's supply-side sections the most consequential for upstream planning. The IEA's country-level crude and condensate supply tables track month-on-month changes across producers in the Gulf of Mexico, the Permian, Brazil's pre-salt Santos Basin, the North Sea, and the Gulf Arab exporters, alongside non-OPEC supply growth forecasts that feed directly into operator drilling and completion budgeting.

On the demand side, the agency's tracking of refinery runs and cracking margins by region remains a reference point for downstream operators. The August report's refinery throughput estimates and product crack commentary will shape expectations for autumn turnaround scheduling across the US Gulf Coast, Northwest Europe and Singapore refining centers.

The Oil Market Report series sits alongside the IEA's other periodic publications, including the annual World Energy Outlook, and informs but does not set policy for IEA member states, which are obligated to hold emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports.

Watch item: the report's implied stock movement for the third quarter and its read on whether OPEC+ production policy tightens or loosens the balance into the fourth quarter — the numbers that will set the tone for winter crude pricing and refinery margin expectations.