US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 0.3% during the week ending May 16, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.
Inventories rose by around 1.3 million barrels to 443.2 million barrels, higher than the market prediction of 1.8 million barrels decrease.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, increased 800,000 barrels reaching to 400.5 million barrels, the data revealed.
Over the same period, gasoline inventories rose by around 800,000 barrels to 225.5 million barrels.
- Crude production increases
EIA data showed that US crude oil production increased by 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 13.39 million bpd during the week ending May 16.
US crude oil imports increased by 247,000 bpd to approximately 6.08 million bpd, while exports increased by 138,000 bpd to around 3.50 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on May 7, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.4 million bpd in 2025.
By Humeyra Ayaz
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr