The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday
that crude inventories declined by
2.032 million barrels in the week
ended May 2, following a drop of 2.696 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had anticipated a draw of 1.700 million
barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks increased by 0.188 million barrels, registering the
first gain in 10 weeks. Analysts had expected a fall of 1.500
million barrels. The previous week saw a plummet of 4.002 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks decreased by 1.107 million barrels. Analysts had forecast a build of 0.973 million barrels. The previous week witnessed
a rise of 0.937 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. fell by 98,000 barrels per day to 13.367 million barrels
per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.0 million barrels per day last week,
logging a gain of 557,000 barrels per day from the week before.