The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories fell by 3.436 million barrels in the week ended July 26, following a
decline of 3.741 million barrels in the previous week. Overall, this was the
fifth straight weekly decrease in the U.S.
crude inventories.
Economists
had anticipated a draw of 1.600 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks dropped by 3.665 million barrels. Analysts had expected a decrease of 1.300 million
barrels. The previous week witnessed a plunge of 5.572 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks climbed by 1.534 million barrels. Analysts
had predicted a slip of 1.000 million barrels. The previous week saw a drop of 2.753
million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. remained unchanged at 13.300 million barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 7.0 million barrels per day last week,
logging an advance of 82,000 barrels per day from the
week before.