US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.2% in the week ending March 27, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories rose by 5.5 million barrels to around 461.6 million barrels. Market expectations had predicted an increase of 1.8 million barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, decreased by 400,000 barrels to 415.1 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories decreased by 600,000 barrels to about 240.9 million barrels.
- Crude production remains unchanged
EIA data showed that US crude oil production remained unchanged at approximately 13.6 million bpd during the week ending March 27.
US crude oil imports decreased by 10,000 bpd to around 6.45 million bpd, while exports increased by 199,000 barrels to about 3.52 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on March 11, the EIA predicted that US crude oil output would reach an average of 13.6 million bpd in 2026.
By Handan Kazanci
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
