The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday
that crude inventories increased by
3.463 million barrels in the week
ended January 24, following a decrease of 1.017 million barrels in the previous
week. This was the first weekly rise in the U.S. crude inventories in 10 weeks. Economists
had forecast a build of 3.200 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks jumped by 2.957 million barrels., recording the 11th consecutive weekly gain.
Analysts had predicted an advance of 1.500 million barrels. The previous week witnessed
a climb of 2.332 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks plunged by 4.994 million barrels, the most since the week ended March
4, 2022 (-5.23 million barrels). Analysts
had expected a draw of 2.100 million barrels. The previous week saw a fall of 3.070
million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. fell by 237,000 barrels a day to 13.240 million barrels
per day, the lowest level since mid-November 2024.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.4 million barrels per day last week,
logging a drop of 297,000 barrels per day from the week before.