The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Wednesday
that crude inventories fell by 3.739 million barrels in the week ended March 31,
following a plunge of 7.489 million barrels in the previous week. Economists
had predicted a drop of 2.329 million barrels.
At the same time, gasoline stocks tumbled by 4.119 million barrels,
while analysts had projected a decrease of 1.729 million barrels. The prior
week saw a decline of 2.904 million barrels.
Elsewhere, distillate stocks dropped by 3.632 million barrels, while
analysts had forecast a draw of 0.396 million barrels. The prior week witnessed
an advance of 0.281 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil production in the U.S. was unchanged at 12.200 million barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.1 million barrels per day last week, logging
a jump of 1.8 million barrels per day from the week before.