Crude oil inventories in the US fell more than expected in the week ended November 22 as imports plunged, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
Last week, inventories in the US fell by 1.8 million barrels to 428.4 million barrels, the EIA said.
Analysts had expected oil stockpiles to fall by 1.3 million barrels last week.
Inventories were about 5% below the five-year average for this time of the year, EIA said in its weekly report.
Refineries in the US operated at 90.5% of their operable capacity last week, compared with 90.2% in the preceding week, the agency said.
Though the fall in inventories was bullish for oil prices, a significant rise in product stocks offset the positive sentiments in the market.
Product stocks rise
EIA said gasoline inventories in the US jumped by 3.3 million barrels to 212.2 million barrels for the week ended November 22.
Gasoline stocks were about 3% below the five-year average last week, the agency said.
Meanwhile, distillate stockpiles also rose by 400,000 barrels to 114.7 million barrels last week, the data showed. Stocks were about 5% below the five-year average.
Stocks of fuel ethanol increased 300,000 barrels to 22.9 million barrels, while those of residual fuel fell 600,000 barrels to 23.2 million barrels.
Meanwhile, stocks of propane and propylene declined 1 million barrels to 96.7 million barrels last week.
Production rises
Production of oil in the world’s largest producer increased last week by 292,000 barrels per day to 13.493 million barrels per day.
Oil production remained near record levels in the US last week.
Production in Alaska rose just 3,000 barrels per day to 444 million barrels per day.
Oil output increased by 289,000 barrels per day in the Lower 48 US states to 13.049 million barrels per day, the EIA said.
EIA had earlier projected that average annual production is expected to be at record levels this year at 13.23 million barrels per day.
This was about 300,000 barrels per day higher than 2023’s average level.
For 2025, oil production was pegged even higher at 13.53 million barrels per day, according to the EIA’s Short Term Energy Outlook report.
Reports have claimed that US President-elect Donald Trump is likely to approve a plan in his first few days back at the White House to increase drilling for oil and gas on federally-owned lands and off the coasts of the country.
Analysts at Commerzbank AG have said Trump’s policies are likely to increase crude oil production in the US in the medium to longer term.
Imports plunge, exports increase
Crude oil imports by the US slipped by as much as 1.6 million barrels per day to 6.083 million barrels per day last week.
The four-week average for imports last week was up 5.5% on a year-on-year basis to 6.629 million barrels per day.
Exports rose by 285,000 barrels per day to 4.663 million barrels per day last week, EIA said.
The four-week average for exports was down 19.1% on a year-on-year basis to 3.833 million barrels per day.
Imports from Mexico plunged by 617,000 barrels per day last week to just 151,000 barrels per day. Trump recently said that he intends to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports to the US, which is likely to include oil as well.
Oil prices steady
Oil prices were steady on Thursday as investors assessed a relatively mixed US crude inventory report.
Even as crude oil inventories fell, a sharp increase in product stocks weighed on sentiments. Prices had even fallen earlier in the session due to a sharp rise in gasoline stockpiles last week.
However, much of the attention will now shift to the ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies on Sunday.
The market expects the cartel to extend its steep voluntary production cuts beyond the end of this year to balance the supply and demand dynamics.
There are concerns that if OPEC increases production from January, the oil market will be significantly oversupplied.
At the time of writing, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was at $68.77 per barrel, largely unchanged from the previous close.
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