The U.S.' crude oil inventories showed an increase last week despite market expectations of a decline, the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil stocks rose by 5.8 million barrels, or 1.4 percent, to reach 411.1 million barrels for the week ending July 13, the EIA said.
The market expectation for the stocks was a decline of 3.6 million barrels. During the previous week, stocks fell by 12.6 million barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 660 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories, on the other hand, fell by 3.2 million barrels, or 1.3 percent, to 235.8 million barrels for the week ending July 13, according to the EIA.
The market expectation for gasoline stocks was a decline of 44,000 barrels after they fell by 700,000 barrels the previous week.
- Crude production rises again
The U.S.' crude oil production increased by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 11 million bpd for the week ending July 13.
All the production increases last week came from the state of Alaska, according to the EIA data.
This marked the 25th weekly increase in crude oil production in the U.S. during the past 27 weeks.
Crude oil production in the U.S. is expected to average 10.8 million bpd this year and 11.8 million bpd next year, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) report for July.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr