The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) informed on Wednesday
that crude inventories declined by
3.341 million barrels in the week
ended March 21, following a rise of 1.745 million barrels in the previous week.
This
marked the first weekly decline in the U.S. crude inventories in four weeks and the steepest one since the week ended December 20, 2024 (-4.237 million barrels).
Economists had expected a drop of 1.600 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks decreased by 1.446 million barrels., recording the fourth
consecutive weekly fall. Analysts
had predicted a draw of 1.600 million barrels. The previous week saw a slip
of 0.527 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks fell by 0.421 million barrels, registering the fourth successive weekly drop. Analysts had anticipated a decrease of 1.500 million
barrels. The previous week witnessed a decline of 2.812 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. inched up 1,000 barrels per day to 13.574 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.2 million barrels per day last week,
logging an increase of 810,000 barrels per day from the week before.