By Sibel Morrow
ANKARA (AA) - US commercial crude oil inventories decreased 0.1% for the week ending Nov. 27, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories declined 700,000 barrels to 488.7 million against market expectation of a dip of 2.3 million.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, did not change and remained at 638.2 million barrels, the data showed Wednesday.
Gasoline inventories increased 3.5 million barrels, or 1.5%, to 233.6 million.
- Crude production rises
US crude oil imports increased 171,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 5.40 million for the week, while crude oil exports also saw an increase of 625,000 to 3.45 million bpd.
US crude oil production rose 112,000 bpd to approximately 11.61 million.
Crude output is now estimated at 11.4 million bpd in 2020 and 11.1 million bpd in 2021, down from 12.2 million in 2019, according to EIA's forecast.
In November 2018, the US surpassed Saudi Arabia and then Russia to become the world's biggest crude oil producer.