US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 0.1% during the week ending April 11, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories rose by around 500,000 barrels to 442.9 million barrels, against the market prediction of 1.6 million barrels decrease.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, rose by 300,000 to 397 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories fell by around 2 million barrels to 234 million barrels.
- Crude production increases
EIA data showed that US crude oil production increased by 4,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.46 million bpd during the week ending April 11.
US crude oil imports decreased by 189,000 bpd to approximately 6 million bpd, while exports increased by 1.85 million bpd to around 5.10 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on April 10, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.5 million bpd in 2025.
By Humeyra Ayaz
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr