Commercial crude oil inventories in the United States, which are not taking into account those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 3.2 million barrels to 451.4 million barrels in the week ending March 29, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed in its report on Wednesday.
The figure marked a larger-than-expected buildup. The country’s inventories now stand about 2% below the five-year average for this time of year. US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.9 million barrels per day for the corresponding timeframe, which is 35,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average.
During the reported week, refineries operated at 88.6% of their operable capacity last week, while gasoline production accelerated, averaging 10 million barrels per day. Imports of crude oil in the country averaged 6.6 million barrels per day last week, down by 85,000 barrels per day. Total commercial petroleum inventories tumbled by 2.2 million barrels last week.