Crude oil inventories declined, while oil production rose slightly last week in the U.S., according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil stocks decreased by 2.7 million barrels, or 0.6%, to 437.8 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 16, the EIA data showed. The market expectation was a decline of 1.9 million barrels. Stocks rose by 1.6 million barrels during the previous week.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 644.8 million barrels last week, according to the data.
Gasoline inventories, on the other hand, rose by 0.3 million barrels, or 0.1%, to 234.1 million barrels during that period, more than the market expectation of an increase of 0.2 million barrels. During the previous week, gasoline inventories saw a decline of 1.4 million barrels.
- Crude production rises slightly
The U.S.' crude oil production increased slightly by 6,000 barrels per day (bpd) to remain almost unchanged around 12.3 million bpd for the week ending Aug. 16, the EIA data showed.
Last week, a 94,000 bpd fall in crude production was seen in the state of Alaska, while other U.S. states, excluding Hawaii, posted an output increase of 100,000 bpd.
Crude oil production in the U.S. is expected to average 12.3 million bpd in 2019 and 13.3 million bpd in 2020, according to the EIA's Short Term Energy Outlook report for August.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr