US crude oil inventories drop, production rises

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 1.1% during the week ending August 16, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released late Wednesday.

Inventories dropped by approximately 4.6 million barrels to 426 million barrels, surpassing the market forecast of a 2 million barrel decline. Meanwhile, strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial stocks, increased by 600,000 barrels to 377.2 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories also fell by about 1.6 million barrels to 220.6 million barrels during the same period.

Crude oil production in the U.S. rose by 123,000 barrels per day (bpd) to approximately 13.81 million bpd. U.S. crude oil imports increased by 366,000 bpd to around 6.65 million bpd, while exports grew by 289,000 bpd to 4.04 million bpd.

In its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on August 6, the EIA projected that U.S. crude oil output would average 13.23 million bpd this year, with expectations to reach 13.69 million bpd next year.

News.Az