US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 0.1% during the week ending Jan. 14, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories rose by 500,000 barrels to 413.8 million barrels, against the market expectation of a 1.37 million-barrel drop.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, decreased by 1.3 million barrels to 592 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
However, gasoline inventories increased by 5.9 million barrels to 246.6 million barrels over that period.
-Crude production decreases
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports increased by 675,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 6.75 million bpd during the week ending Jan. 14, while crude oil exports rose by around 655,000 bpd to around 2.61 million bpd.
US crude oil production, meanwhile, decreased by 6,000 bpd to approximately 12.16 million bpd during the same period.
The EIA estimates that US crude output will reach 11.8 million bpd for 2022 and will rise to 12.4 million bpd in 2023, which would be the highest annual average US crude oil production on record.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr