EIA: US oil inventories down by 7.5 million barrels
Commercial crude oil inventories in the United States, which are not taking into account those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), went down by 7.5 million barrels to 473.7 million barrels in the week ending March 24, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) stated in its report issued on Wednesday.
The crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the same week, up by 437,000 barrels compared to the previous seven-day's average. Refineries operated at 90.3% of their capacity. Gasoline production rose, averaging 10 million bpd.
Crude oil imports averaged 5.3 million bpd, dropping by 847,000 bpd compared to the previous week. Meanwhile, total commercial petroleum inventories went down by 10.7 million barrels.