US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.1% during the week ending Feb. 14, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Thursday.
Inventories rose by around 4.6 million barrels to 432.5 million barrels, higher than the market prediction of 2.2 million barrels increase.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 395.3 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories fell by around 200,000 barrels to 247.9 million barrels.
- Crude production increases
EIA data showed that US crude oil production increased by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.49 million bpd during the week ending Feb. 14
US crude oil imports decreased by 488,000 bpd to approximately 5.82 million bpd, while exports increased by 472,000 bpd to around 4.38 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Feb. 11, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.6 million bpd in 2025.
By Humeyra Ayaz
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr