The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced that the country's commercial crude oil inventories fell by approximately 1.9 million barrels last week, settling at 410.6 million barrels. The drop came as a surprise to markets, which had anticipated a modest increase of around 100,000 barrels.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial stocks, also declined by 100,000 barrels to 282.6 million barrels during the same period. Gasoline inventories, by contrast, rose by 3.9 million barrels to reach 209.2 million barrels.
US daily crude oil production rose by 723,000 barrels during the week of October 17–23, reaching 13.992 million barrels per day. Over the same period, crude imports increased by 616,000 barrels per day to 6.374 million barrels, while exports climbed by 1.412 million barrels per day to 4.854 million barrels.
According to EIA's October Short-Term Energy Outlook, US average daily crude production is projected to reach 13.87 million barrels this year and rise further to 14.3 million barrels in 2025.
