US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.3% during the week ending Dec. 31, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories fell by 2.1 million barrels to 417.9 million barrels, below the market expectation of a 3.4 million-barrel drop.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, also declined by 1.3 million barrels to 593.7 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories also increased by 10.1 million barrels to 232.8 million barrels over that period.
-Crude production increases
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports decreased by 875,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 5.88 million bpd during the week ending Dec. 31, while crude oil exports decreased by around 375,000 bpd to around 2.55 million bpd.
US crude oil production, meanwhile, rose by 10,000 bpd to approximately 12,259 million bpd during the same period.
The EIA estimates that US crude output will reach 11.85 million bpd for 2022, up from 11.18 million bpd in 2021.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr