US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.2% during the week ending May 20, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Inventories fell by 1 million barrels to 419.8 million barrels, against the market expectation of a drop of 690,000 barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, also declined by 6 million barrels to 532 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories decreased by 500,000 barrels to 219.7 million barrels over the same period.
-Crude production rises
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports decline by 82,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 6.49 million bpd during the week ending May 20, while crude oil exports increased by 821,000 bpd to 4.34 million bpd.
US crude oil production, meanwhile, increased by 13,000 bpd to approximately 12.36 million bpd during the same period.
In the May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the EIA forecasts that crude oil output in the US will average 11.91 million bpd in 2022, up from 11.2 million bpd in 2021.
In 2023, crude oil output in the country is forecast to reach 12.85 million bpd.
Source: Anadolu Agency