US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.8% during the week ending Jan. 30, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories decreased by around 3.5 million barrels to 420.3 million barrels. Market expectations had pointed to an increase of about 700,000 barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, increased 200,000 barrels reaching to 415.2 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories increased by around 700,000 barrels to 257.9 million barrels.
- Crude production decreased
EIA data showed that US crude oil production decreased by 481,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.21 million bpd during the week ending Jan 30.
US crude oil imports increased by 558,000 bpd to approximately 6.20 million bpd, while exports fell by around 542,000 barrels bpd to around 4.47 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Jan. 14, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.59 million bpd in 2026.
By Humeyra Ayaz
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr