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Posted by Parani Krishnan
Investing.com – Energy Information Administration data showed sharp declines for the second week in a row, accompanied by significant cuts in gasoline and distillate inventories as domestic refineries prepare for busy summer trips.
The US Energy Information Administration said, in its weekly report on the state of oil, that a decline of 3.739 million barrels during the week ending March 31. While in the previous week, until March 24, it recorded a decline of 7.489 million barrels.
Analysts tracked by Investing.com expected the Energy Information Administration to report a crude oil balance decline of 2.329 million barrels instead.
In addition to withdrawing crude oil from stockpiles, the Biden administration has tapped the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, It released 3.7 million barrels in order to balance the markets, and the White House pledged that it would work to keep the price low for consumers. This decision is the first of its kind this year The Biden administration has been tapping into the reserves aggressively since late 2021 to make up for shortfalls in crude supplies. That raised fuel costs for Americans. The strategic reserve is at its lowest level since November 1983.
On the other hand, the Energy Information Administration indicated a decrease of 4.119 million barrels, compared to the expected decrease at 1.729 million barrels, and compared to the previous weekly decrease of 2.904 million barrels. Automotive Fuel Gasoline is the No. 1 fuel product in the United States.
For the EIA, the EIA reported a decline of 3.632 million barrels, against expectations for a decline of 0.396 million barrels and against the previous week’s build of 0.281 million barrels. Distillates, which are refined including diesel for trucks, buses, trains, ships and jet fuel, were the strongest component of demand earlier in the year.
