US crude oil inventories down 1.1% for week ending April 21

By Zeynep Beyza Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - US commercial crude oil inventories decreased 1.1% during the week ending April 21, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) late Wednesday.

Inventories fell by around 5.1 million barrels to 460.9 million barrels, against the American Petroleum Institute's expectation of a draw of 6.08 million barrels.

Strategic petroleum reserves, which are excluded from commercial crude stocks, also fell by about 1 million barrels to 366.9 million barrels last week, the data revealed.

Gasoline inventories decreased by around 2.4 million barrels to 221.1 million barrels over the same period.

- Crude production decreases

EIA data showed that US crude oil imports increased by 81,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 6.37 million bpd during the week ending April 21, while crude oil exports rose by 248,000 bpd to about 4.81 million bpd.

US crude oil production, meanwhile, fell by 83,000 bpd to around 12.64 million bpd over the same period.

In the April Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the EIA forecasted that crude oil output in the US would average 12.54 million bpd in 2023, up from 11.90 million bpd in 2022.

Crude oil output in the country in 2024 is forecast to reach 12.75 million bpd.