The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories increased by 0.533 million barrels in the week ended January
20, following a climb of 8.408 million barrels in the previous week. Economists
had foreseen a rise of 0.971 million barrels.
At the same time, gasoline stocks advanced by 1.763 million barrels,
while analysts had predicted a gain of 1.767 million barrels. The prior week registered
a build of 3.483 million barrels.
Elsewhere, distillate stocks slipped by 0.507 million barrels, while
analysts had forecast a decline of 1.121 million barrels. The prior week logged
a fall of 1.939 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil production in the U.S. stood unchanged at 12.200 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.9 million barrels per day last week, recording
a drop of 956,000 barrels per day from the week before.