Commercial Crude Oil Inventories See Notable Decline

In a recent report by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), it was revealed that commercial crude oil inventories in the United States, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), experienced a significant decrease of 3.34 million barrels, bringing the total to 433.6 million barrels for the week ending March 21.

Refinery Operations and Gasoline Production Trends

Oil refinery inputs saw an average of 15.8 million barrels per day (bpd), marking a decrease of 87,000 bpd from the previous week's average. Operating at 87% of their operable capacity, refineries also reported a decline in gasoline production, averaging 4.5 million bpd.

Crude Oil Imports and Petroleum Inventories

On the other hand, crude oil imports increased by 810,000 bpd week-on-week, averaging 6.2 million bpd. Despite the rise in imports, total commercial petroleum inventories saw an increase of 3.2 million barrels during the same period.