The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories dropped by 4.259 million barrels in the week ended December
8, following a fall of 4.632 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected a decrease
of 0.650 million barrels.
At the same time, gasoline stocks increased by 0.408 million barrels. Analysts had predicted a build of 1.933 million barrels. The previous
week saw a climb of 5.421 million barrels.
Elsewhere, distillate stocks surged by 1.499 million barrels. Analysts had forecast a
gain of 0.623 million barrels. The previous week witnessed a jump of 1.267 million
barrels.
Meanwhile, oil production in the U.S. remained unchanged at 13.100 million barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.5 million barrels per day last week,
logging a decrease of 1.0 million barrels per day from the week before.