US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.2% during the week ending Jan. 3, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories fell by around 1 million barrels to 414.6 million barrels, lower than the market prediction of 1.8 million barrels decline.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, increased by approximately 200,000 barrels to 393.8 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories rose by around 6.3 million barrels to 237.7 million barrels.
- Crude production decreases
EIA data showed that US crude oil production fell by 1,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 14.01 million bpd during the week ending Jan. 3.
US crude oil imports decreased by 497,000 bpd to approximately 6.43 million bpd while exports fell by 776,000 bpd to around 3.08 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Dec. 10, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.24 million bpd in 2024.
In 2025, crude oil output in the country is expected to average 13.52 million bpd.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr