The U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA) revealed on Thursday that crude inventories
jumped by 7.928 million barrels in the week ended May 22. Economists had
forecast a drop of 1.944 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks fell by 0.724 million barrels, while analysts had
expected a gain of 0.100 million barrels. Distillate stocks climbed by 5.495
million barrels, while analysts had forecast an increase of 1.771 million
barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. decreased by 100,000 barrels a day to 11.400 million
barrels a day.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.2 million barrels per day last week, increased by 2.0 million barrels per day from the previous week.