A report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), released on Wednesday, indicates that U.S. crude oil inventories continued to decline in the week ending December 6th. According to the EIA, crude oil stockpiles decreased by 1.4 million barrels last week, following a significant drop of 5.1 million barrels the prior week. Analysts had anticipated a reduction of 1.1 million barrels.
Currently, U.S. crude oil inventories stand at 422.0 million barrels, positioning them approximately 6% below the five-year average for this period of the year.
In contrast, the report noted a significant rise in gasoline inventories, which increased by 5.1 million barrels last week. Despite this increase, gasoline stocks remain roughly 4% below the five-year average for the season.
Distillate fuel inventories, encompassing heating oil and diesel, also saw a rise of 3.2 million barrels last week. However, similar to gasoline, these reserves are approximately 4% lower than the average levels observed over the past five years for this time of year, according to the EIA.
