A report published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday revealed an unexpected decline in U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending July 12th.
According to the EIA, crude oil inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels last week, following a decrease of 3.4 million barrels in the previous week. This contrasts with economists' expectations, who had predicted an increase of 0.8 million barrels.
The EIA stated that, at 440.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are approximately 5 percent below the five-year average for the current time of year.
Conversely, gasoline inventories rose by 3.3 million barrels last week and are now slightly above the five-year average for this period.
Additionally, distillate fuel inventories, including heating oil and diesel, increased by 3.5 million barrels but remain about 7 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.
