US commercial crude oil inventories fell by 0.5% in the week ending Jan. 23, according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories declined by about 2.3 million barrels to 423.8 million barrels, exceeding market expectations for a 200,000-barrel draw.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, rose by 500,000 barrels to 415 million barrels, the data showed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories increased by around 200,000 barrels to 257.2 million barrels.
- Crude production decreased
EIA data showed that US crude oil production decreased by 36,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.7 million bpd during the week ending Jan. 23.
US crude oil imports decreased by 804,000 bpd to approximately 5.6 million bpd, while exports rose by around 901,000 barrels bpd to around 4.6 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on Jan. 14, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.59 million bpd in 2026.
By Duygu Alhan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr