The U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) revealed on Wednesday that crude inventories climbed
by 13.798 million barrels in the week ended March 5, following a record build
of 21.563 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had forecast a gain
of 0.816 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks tumbled 11.869 million barrels, while analysts had
expected a decline of 3.467 million barrels. Distillate stocks plunged by 5.504
million barrels, while analysts had forecast a drop of 3.533 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. surged by 900,000 barrels a day to 10.900 million
barrels a day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 5.7 million barrels per day last week, decreased by 0.6
million barrels per day from the previous week.