The U.S.' crude oil and gasoline inventories declined last week, while crude production increased, according to data released by the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
The EIA's data show that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 9.6 million barrels to 439.5 million barrels for the week ending March 15. Crude stocks rose by 3.9 million barrels during the previous week.
Gasoline stocks also fell by 4.6 million barrels to 241.5 million barrels over the same period. Gasoline inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels during the prior week.
After the EIA's data release, Brent oil reached as high as $68.60 per barrel early Thursday on the global market, the highest level of 2019 to date.
In Turkey 09.10 local time on Tuesday, Brent crude traded at $67.68 per barrel and WTI registered as $59.10 at the same time.
-Crude oil output up
U.S. crude oil production increase by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 12.1 million bpd for the week ending March 15, the EIA data showed.
While crude oil production increased by 4,000 bpd in the state of Alaska, it rose by 100,000 bpd in other U.S. states.
Crude oil output in the U.S. is expected to average 12.3 million bpd in 2019 and 13 million bpd in 2020, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook report for March.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr