US commercial crude oil inventories rose 0.6% during the week ending Oct. 1, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories increased by 2.3 million barrels to 420.9 million barrels higher than the market expectation of a 300,000-barrel rise.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks decreased by 900,000 barrels to 617.8 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels to 225.1 million barrels over that period.
- Crude production rises
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports rose by 483,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 7.35 million bpd during the week ending Oct. 1, while crude oil exports decreased by 906,000 bpd to around 2.11 million bpd.
The data showed that US crude oil production also increased by 210,000 bpd to approximately 11.75 million bpd during the same period.
The EIA forecasts that US crude output is estimated at 11.8 million bpd for 2022, up from 11.1 million bpd in 2021.
In November 2018, the US first surpassed Saudi Arabia and then Russia to become the world's largest crude oil producer.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr