Official data showed, on Wednesday, a sudden rise in US crude inventories last week, interrupting a falling wave for six consecutive weeks, in an indication of the return of supplies in the Gulf of Mexico to the markets disrupted by two hurricanes.
The US Energy Information Administration said that commercial crude stocks increased by 4.6 million barrels to 418.5 million barrels in the week ending September 24, from 413.9 million in the previous week.
By rising, US crude stocks deviated from the estimates of the analysis centers, which had expected a decrease of 4.5 million barrels.
Over the past six weeks, US crude inventories have maintained a downward trend, dropping to their lowest since October 2018.
According to the new data, US stocks of motor fuel (gasoline) increased by 200,000 barrels to 221.8 million barrels last week.
The country’s stocks of distillates, which include diesel, heating oil and jet fuel, also increased by 400,000 barrels to 129.7 million barrels.
The increase in gasoline and distillate stocks indicates a decline in fuel demand in the world’s largest economy, while overcoming fears of new strains of Corona.
The Energy Information Administration said that the average consumption of US crude oil refineries reached 15.4 million barrels per day during the past week, up by 67,000 barrels per day average in the previous week.
