On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) published a report revealing an unexpected decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories for the week concluding on March 8th.
According to the EIA, these inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels after an increase of 1.4 million barrels the week prior. Economists previously anticipated a growth of approximately 1.3 million barrels.
With a current total of 447.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are roughly 3% lower than the five-year average for this time of year, as stated by the EIA.
Additionally, the report indicates a significant drop in gasoline inventories by 5.7 million barrels from the previous week, which is also about 3% lower than the five-year average during this period.
Conversely, inventories of distillate fuels -- which include heating oil and diesel -- saw an increase of 0.9 million barrels last week. However, these levels are still approximately 7% less than the average for this time of year over the last five years.
