US crude oil stocks, production rise for w/e April 19

By Zeynep Beyza Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - Crude oil inventories and production rose in the U.S. last week, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

Commercial crude oil stocks increased by 5.5 million barrels, or 1.2 percent, to 460.6 million barrels for the week ending April 19, the EIA data showed. Stocks dropped by 1.4 million barrels during the previous week.

Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 649.1 million barrels last week, according to the data.

Gasoline inventories decreased by 2.1 million barrels, or 0.9 percent, to 225.8 million barrels during that period. During the previous week, gasoline inventories saw a decline of 1.2 million barrels.

- Crude production falls

The U.S.' crude oil production rose by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 12.2 million bpd (mbpd) for the week ending April 19, the EIA data showed.

Last week, a 1,000 bpd decline in crude production was seen in the state of Alaska, while other U.S. states excluding Hawaii posted an output rise of 100,000 bpd.