Crude oil inventories in the U.S. declined last week, while crude production increased slightly to remain at a record high level, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Commercial crude oil stocks decreased by 0.5 million barrels, or 0.1 percent, to 441.5 million barrels for the week ending Dec. 14, the EIA data showed. The market expectation for crude stocks was a decline of 2.4 million barrels. Stocks fell by 1.2 million barrels during the previous week.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, decreased by 0.4 million barrels, or 0.1 percent, to 649.1 million barrels last week, according to the data.
On the other hand, gasoline inventories increased by 1.8 million barrels, or 0.8 percent, to 230.1 million barrels during that period, compared to the market expectation of an increase of 1.2 million barrels. During the previous week, gasoline inventories saw an increase of 2.1 million barrels.
-Crude production rises slightly
The U.S.' crude oil production increased slightly by 7,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 11.6 million bpd for the week ending Dec. 14, according to the EIA. Crude oil production in the country had seen record high levels reaching 11.7 million bpd since the week ending Nov. 9.
Last week, while crude production rose by 7,000 bpd in the state of Alaska, it remained unchanged in other U.S. states excluding Hawaii.
This marked the 39th time crude oil production in the U.S. showed an increase in the past 49 weeks.
The U.S.' crude oil production is expected to average 12.1 million bpd in 2019, according to the EIA's Short Term Energy Outlook report for December.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr