US commercial crude oil inventories dropped 1.5% during the week ending Sept. 10, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories decreased by 6.4 million barrels to 417.4 million barrels compared to the market expectation of a 3.9 million-barrel draw.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks also decreased to 620.8 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories also fell by 1.9 million barrels to 218.1 million barrels over that period.
- Crude production rises
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports declined by 48,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 5.8 million bpd during the week ending Sept. 10, while crude oil exports rose by 282,000 bpd to around 2.62 million bpd.
The data showed that US crude oil production also rose by 109,000 bpd to approximately 10.5 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 Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr