The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Thursday
that crude inventories declined by
4.156 million barrels in the week
ended May 24, following a jump of 1.825 million barrels in the previous week. This was the sharpest weekly decrease
in the U.S. crude inventories since the week ended April 19 (-6.368 million
barrels). Economists had predicted a fall of 1.950
million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks climbed by 2.022 million barrels, the
most since the week ended January 19 (+4.910 million barrels). Analysts had forecast
a slip of 0.400 million barrels. The previous week witnessed a drop of 0.945 million
barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks surged by 2.544 million barrels, the most since the week ended January
5 (+6.530 million barrels). Analysts
had expected a gain of 0.150 million barrels. The previous week saw a rise of 0.379
million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. was unchanged at 13.100 million barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.8 million barrels per day last week, logging an advance of 106,000
barrels per day from the week before.