US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.3% during the week ending May 3, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late on Wednesday.
Inventories fell by about 1.4 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels, compared to the market prediction of a fall of around 1.43 million barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, increased by about 900,000 barrels to 367.2 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories also rose by approximately 900,000 barrels to 228 million barrels over the same period.
– Crude production falls
EIA data showed that US crude oil production decreased by 8,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 13.52 million bpd during the week ending May 3.
US crude oil imports rose by 198,000 bpd to about 6.96 million bpd, and exports increased by 550,000 bpd to approximately 4.46 million bpd over the same period.
In the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) released on April 9, the EIA predicted that crude oil output in the country would reach an average of 13.21 million bpd this year.
Next year, crude oil output in the country is expected to reach 13.72 million bpd.
