The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed on Wednesday that crude inventories fell by 6.644 million barrels in the week ended February 5. Economists had forecast a build of 0.985 million barrels.

At the same time, gasoline stocks surged by 4.259 million barrels, while analysts had expected a build of 1.814 million barrels. Distillate stocks decreased 1.731 million barrels, while analysts had forecast a drop of 0.790 million barrels.

Meanwhile, oil production in the U.S. rose by 100,000 barrels a day to 11.000 million barrels a day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.9 million barrels per day last week, decreased by 0.7 million barrels per day from the previous week.

FXStreet reports that strategists at Credit Suisse note that gold (XAU/USD) is expected to extend its consolidation for a while yet above $1765

“Gold outlook remains unchanged and we expect further consolidation above key price support at $1765. Big picture, we remain of the view this is a correction within the long-term bull trend, but we need to see the $1966 November high removed to suggest the core trend is indeed turning higher again for strength back to $2075 and eventually our $2300 long-term objective.”

• Says Iraq's oil exports should average around 2.9 million barrels per day in February
• Sees Brent prices ranging between $58 and $63