The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories dropped by 0.959 million barrels in the week ended January 3, following
a decline of 1.178 million barrels in the previous week. Overall, this represented
the seventh straight weekly draw in the
U.S. crude inventories. Economists had expected a fall of 0.600 million
barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks surged by 6.330 million barrels, recording the eighth consecutive weekly increase.
Analysts had forecast a build of 1.500 million barrels. The previous week saw a soar
of 7.717 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks jumped by 6.071 million barrels. Analysts had expected a rise of 1.000 million
barrels. The previous week witnessed a climb of 6.406 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. slipped by 10,000 barrels a day to 13.563 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.4 million barrels per day last week,
logging a decrease of 497,000 barrels per day from the week before.