US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.8% during the week ending Dec. 14, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories fell by around 3.4 million barrels to 424.2 million barrels, exceeding the market prediction of a 600,000-barrel drop.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, increased 500,000 barrels, reaching 410.9 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories rose by around 2.3 million barrels to 207.4 million barrels.
- Crude production decreases
EIA data showed that US crude oil production decreased by 28,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.83 million bpd during the week ending Dec. 14.
US crude oil imports increased by 729,000 bpd to approximately 5.95 million bpd, while exports rose by around 1.34 million bpd to around 4.16 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Nov. 12, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.59 million bpd in 2025.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
