U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels in the week ending March 21, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Before the release of the EIA data, crude oil prices were already rising. This followed a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday, which showed a draw of 4.6 million barrels in U.S. crude oil inventories, along with a significant drop in gasoline stocks. At 9:39 a.m. ET, the Brent benchmark was up 0.88%, trading at $73.66 per barrel—roughly $3 higher than the previous week. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark was also up by 0.84%, reaching $69.58, marking a near $3 increase compared to the same time last week.
The EIA also reported a 1.4 million barrel drop in total motor gasoline inventories for the week ending March 21, with production averaging 9.2 million barrels per day. This compares to a smaller decrease of 500,000 barrels the week before, when production was 9.6 million barrels daily.
For middle distillates, the EIA estimated a 400,000 barrel decrease in inventories, with daily production falling to an average of 4.5 million barrels. This contrasts with the previous week, which saw a 2.8 million barrel dip in inventories and production at 4.6 million barrels per day. Distillate inventories are now 7% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Over the past four weeks, total products supplied decreased by 0.5% compared to the previous week, averaging 20.2 million barrels per day. Distillate products supplied were up 1.8% compared to the same period last year, while gasoline supplies were down by 0.2%.
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