The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories dropped by 2.696 million barrels in the week ended April 25, following
a gain of 0.244 million barrels in the previous week. This marked
the first weekly fall in
the U.S. crude inventories in five weeks. Economists had forecast a build of 0.390 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks plummeted by 4.002 million barrels, registering the ninth
consecutive weekly decline. Analysts had predicted a decrease of 1.080 million barrels.
The previous week witnessed a tumble of 4.476 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks rose by 0.937 million barrels, recording the first
increase in four weeks. Analysts had foreseen a drop of 1.710 million barrels. The previous week saw a plunge
of 2.353 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. increased by 5,000 barrels per day to 13.465 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 5.5 million barrels per day last week,
logging a fall of 90,000 barrels per day from the week before.