US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 2.1% during the week ending Feb. 13, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Thursday.
Inventories fell by around 9 million barrels to 419.8 million barrels. Market expectations had pointed to an increase of about 1.7 million barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, increased by 200,000 barrels to 415.4 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories decreased by around 3.2 million barrels to 255.8 million barrels.
- Crude production increases
EIA data showed that US crude oil production rose by 22,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.74 million bpd during the week ending Feb. 13.
US crude oil imports fell by 281,000 bpd to approximately 6.5 million bpd, while exports increased by around 851,000 bpd to around 4.59 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Feb. 10, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.6 million bpd in 2026.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
