US crude oil stocks rise much higher than expectation

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The U.S.' crude oil inventories increased much higher than the market expectation last week, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

Commercial crude oil inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels, or 0.8%, to 431.7 million barrels for the week ending Jan. 24, the EIA data showed. The market expectation was an increase of 482,000 barrels. Inventories fell by 405,000 barrels during the previous week.

Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 635 million barrels last week, the data revealed.

Gasoline inventories also showed an increase of 1.2 million barrels, or 0.5%, to 261.2 million barrels during that period. The market expectation was an increase of 1.3 million barrels. Gasoline stocks rose by 1.7 million barrels during the previous week.

- Crude production unchanged

The U.S.' crude oil imports rose by 229,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 6.66 million bpd for the week ending Jan. 24, and crude oil exports saw an increase of 95,000 bpd to 3.51 million bpd, according to the EIA data.

Crude oil production in the U.S. remained unchanged at 13 million bpd for the week ending Jan. 24, the EIA data showed. The U.S.' crude oil output reached an all-time high of 13 million bpd for the week ending Jan. 10.

The U.S.' crude oil production is expected to average 13.3 million bpd in 2020, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook report for January.