The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories increased by
1.357 million barrels in the week
ended August 9, following a decline of 3.728 million barrels in the previous
week. This was the first weekly rise in the U.S. crude inventories in seven
weeks. Economists
had predicted a fall of 2.000 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks plunged by 2.894 million barrels. Analysts had foreseen a drop of 1.400 million barrels. The previous
week saw a build of 1.340 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks decreased by 1.673 million barrels. Analysts
had anticipated a fall of 1.000 million barrels. The previous week saw a rise of
0.949 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. reduced by 100,000 barrels a day to 13.300 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.3 million barrels per day last week,
logging a gain of 61,000 barrels per day from the week before.