The U.S.' crude oil inventories surpassed market expectations last week revealing a hefty increase, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil inventories rose by 15.2 million barrels, or 3.2%, to 484.4 million barrels for the week ending April 3, the EIA data showed. The market expectation was an increase of 9.27 million barrels. Inventories rose by 13.8 million barrels during the previous week.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 635 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories also showed an increase of 10.5 million barrels, or 4.3%, to 257.3 million barrels over that period. While the market expectation was an increase of 4.33 million barrels for gasoline stocks, they rose by 7.5 million barrels during the previous week.
- Crude oil production down
The U.S.' crude oil imports decreased by 173,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 5.87 million bpd for the week ending April 3, while crude oil exports saw a decline of 322,000 bpd to 2.83 million bpd, according to the EIA data.
The EIA data showed that crude oil production in the U.S. decreased by 600,000 bpd to 12.4 million bpd for the week ending April 3. The U.S.' crude oil output reached an all-time high of 13.1 million bpd for the week ending Feb. 28.
The U.S.' 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