The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday
that crude inventories dropped by 3.444 million barrels in the week ended July 5, following a plunge
of 12.157 million barrels in the previous week. Economists
had predicted a draw of 3.000 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks fell by 2.006 million barrels. Analysts had forecast
a slip of 0.500 million barrels. The previous week saw a decline of 1.535 million
barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks jumped by 4884 million barrels, recording the first advance in four weeks, the pace of which was also the strongest since the
week ended January 5 (+6.530 million barrels). Analysts
had foreseen a build of 0.500 million barrels. The previous week witnessed a slip
of 0.377 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. rose by 100,000 barrels a day to 13.300 million barrels
per day, recording its first increase in four weeks. This represented the highest
output since late February.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.8 million barrels per day last week, logging a gain of 214,000 barrels
per day from the week before.