Inventories decreased by 7.2 million barrels to 425.4 million barrels compared to the market expectation of a 2.8 million-barrel draw.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 621.3 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
However, gasoline inventories increased by 1.3 million barrels to 227.2 million barrels over that period.
– Crude production rises
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports increased by 183,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 6.34 million bpd during the week ending August 27, while crude oil exports rose by 228,000 bpd to around 3.04 million bpd.
The data showed that US crude oil production also increased by 81,000 bpd to approximately 11.9 million bpd during the same period.
The EIA forecasts that US crude output is estimated at 11.8 million bpd for 2022, up from 11.1 million bpd in 2021.
In November 2018, the US first surpassed Saudi Arabia and then Russia to become the world’s largest crude oil producer.
Source: Anadolu Agency
