The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that
crude inventories rose by 3.845 million barrels in the week ended June 27, following a
decline of 5.836 million barrels in the previous week. This
marked the first weekly gain in the U.S. crude inventories in six weeks. and the strongest one since late March. Economists had forecast a
drop of 2.000 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks surged by 4.188 million barrels, the most since late May. Analysts had expected a fall of 0.940
million barrels. The previous week saw a decrease of 2.075 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks dropped by 1.710 million barrels. Analysts had anticipated a draw of 1.250
million barrels. The previous week witnessed a plunge of 4.066 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. edged down 2,000 barrels per day to 13.433 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 6.9 million barrels per day last week,
logging a gain of 976,000 barrels per day from the week before.