U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.644 million barrels last week, a larger decrease than the market’s expectation of 1.96 million barrels.

During the period, gasoline inventories increased by 1.504 million barrels, an increase of 853,000 barrels more than the market expected. Distillate oil inventories increased by 1.246 million barrels, an increase of 824,000 barrels more than expected.

U.S. crude oil imports increased by 451,000 barrels per day last week. Refinery capacity utilization increased by 0.9 percentage points.