The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed on Wednesday that crude inventories jumped by 8.991 million barrels in the week ended April 24. Economists had forecast a surge of 10.619 million barrels.

At the same time, gasoline stocks fell by 3.669 million barrels, while analysts had expected a gain of 2.527 million barrels. Distillate stocks rose by 5.092 million barrels, while analysts had forecast an increase of 3.600 million barrels.

Meanwhile, oil production in the U.S. decreased by 100,000 barrels a day to 12.100 million barrels a day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 5.3 million barrels per day last week, up by 365,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

FXStreet reports that strategists at TD Securities note that in energy markets, the left tail is shrinking.

“OPEC+ output curtailment is set to officially begin in just a few days, while market forces, such as persistently low prices and storage constraints, are at work to ultimately drive non-OPEC supply significantly lower.” 

“While we anticipate a long road to recovery for crude prices, the left tail may have narrowed sufficiently for market participants to begin eyeing opportunities.”