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The Energy Information Administration announced a drop in crude oil inventories of 3.9 million barrels for the week before March 8, compared to 7.1 million barrels a week earlier, the total being slightly above average for this period of the year to 449.1 million barrels.
The authority said the refineries were processing crude at an average daily rate of 16 million barrels, unchanged from the previous week. Gasoline production averaged 9.7 million bpd last week, up from 9.9 million bpd a week earlier and 4.9 million bpd the previous week.
Gasoline inventories, according to the EIA, decreased by 4.6 million barrels in the seven days prior to March 8, compared to a drop of 4.2 million barrels the previous week. Distillate fuel oil inventories increased by 400,000 barrels after declining 2.4 million barrels in the last week of February.
Crude oil prices have tended to rise today due to the decline in Venezuelan and Iranian production, under US sanctions, and also thanks to new information from Saudi Arabia according to which it plans to continue to reduce its production more deeply than that agreed last December.
The update took place despite the words of the Indian Minister of Petroleum, at a meeting with his Saudi counterpart, that prices were already rising and that India, one of the largest importers in the world , was comfortable. Related: Is a crisis threatening Canadian oil?
However, continued growth in crude oil production in the United States has dampened oil gains on new bulls. EIA, in its latest short-term energy outlook, forecast a record high, although it has downgraded the actual figure for 2019 from 110,000 b / d to 12.3 million b / day. j. Next year, the EIA estimates that crude oil production in the United States will reach 13 million bpd.
Concern over global economic growth has also continued to weigh on prices, which would dampen demand for some of the largest importers of the product.
At the time of writing, Brent crude traded at $ 67.29 per barrel and WTI at $ 57.85 per barrel.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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