A report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday revealed an unforeseen increase in U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending May 17th.
According to the EIA, crude oil inventories climbed by 1.8 million barrels last week, a reversal from the previous week's decline of 2.5 million barrels. Economists had anticipated a significant decrease of 3.1 million barrels.
Despite the weekly rise, U.S. crude oil inventories remain approximately 3% below the five-year average for this period, standing at 458.8 million barrels.
Distillate fuel inventories, which encompass heating oil and diesel, experienced a modest increase of 0.4 million barrels last week. However, they are still approximately 7% under the five-year average for this time of year.
Conversely, gasoline inventories dipped by 0.9 million barrels last week and currently sit about 2% below the five-year average for this period.
