By Ebru Sengul Cevrioglu
ANKARA (AA) - US commercial crude oil inventories decreased 0.1% during the week ending Dec. 3, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories fell by 200,000 barrels to 432.9 million barrels against the market expectation of a 2.09 million-barrel rise.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, also declined by 1.7 million barrels to 600.9 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories increased by 3.9 million barrels to 219.3 million barrels over that period.
- Crude production increases
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports decreased by 105,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 6.49 million bpd during the week ending Dec. 3, while crude oil exports decline by 434,000 bpd to around 2.27 million bpd.
US crude oil production, meanwhile, increased by 100,000 bpd to approximately 12.15 million bpd during the same period.
The EIA forecasts that US crude output is estimated at 11.9 million bpd for 2022, up from 11.1 million bpd in 2021.