US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.7% during the week ending June 24, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels, against the market expectation of a drop of 110,000 barrels.
However, strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, declined by 7 million barrels to 497.9 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories also decreased by 2.6 million barrels to 221.6 million barrels over the same period.
– Crude production rises
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports decreased by 228,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 5.99 million bpd during the week ending June 24, while crude oil exports fell by 192,000 bpd to 3.38 million bpd.
US crude oil production, meanwhile, increased by 125,000 bpd to approximately 12.52 million bpd over the same period.
In the June Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the EIA forecasts that crude oil output in the US will average 11.92 million bpd in 2022, up from 11.2 million bpd in 2021.
In 2023, crude oil output in the country is forecast to reach 12.97 million bpd.
Source: Anadolu Agency