The U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that crude inventories increased
by 1.234 million barrels in the week ended January 26, following a plunge of 9.233
million barrels in the previous week. This was the first advance in the U.S.
crude inventories in three weeks. Economists had foreseen a drop of 0.217 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks rose by 1.156 million barrels. Analysts
had predicted a gain of 1.483 million barrels. The previous week registered a
surge of 4.913 million barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks fell by 2.542 million barrels. Analysts had predicted a slip of 0.425 million
barrels. The previous week recorded a decrease of 1.417 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. surged by 700,000 barrels a day to 13.000 million
barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 5.6 million barrels per day last week, logging an increase of 25,000
barrels per day from the week before.