The US' crude oil inventories last week showed an increase of less than the market expectation, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil inventories increased by 4.6 million barrels, or 0.9%, to 532.2 million barrels for the week ending May 1, the EIA data showed. The market expectation was a rise of 7.7 million barrels. Inventories rose by 9 million barrels during the previous week.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, increased by 1.7 million barrels, or 0.3%, to 637.8 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories, however, showed a decline of 3.2 million barrels, or 1.2%, to 256.4 million barrels over that period although the market expectation was an increase of 43,000 barrels. Gasoline stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels during the previous week.
- Crude oil production down
The US' crude oil imports increased by 410,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 5.7 million bpd for the week ending May 1, while crude oil exports saw a rise of 244,000 bpd to 3.5 million bpd, according to the EIA data.
The EIA data showed that crude oil production in the U.S. decreased by 123,000 bpd to approximately 11.9 million bpd for the week ending May 1. The US' crude oil output reached an all-time high of 13.1 million bpd for the week ending Feb. 28.
The US' crude oil production is expected to average 11.8 million bpd in 2020, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook report for April.
The country surpassed Saudi Arabia, and then Russia, in November 2018 to become the world's biggest crude oil producer.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
US crude oil inventories show rise for w/e May 1
- Commercial crude oil stocks increase by 4.6 million barrels
