U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Unexpectedly Show Weekly Decrease

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed an unexpected decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended March 8th.

The EIA said crude oil inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels after climbing by 1.4 million barrels in the previous week. Economist had expected inventories to rise by 1.3 million barrels.

At 447.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.

The report also said gasoline inventories tumbled by 5.7 million barrels from last week and are about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Meanwhile, distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, rose by 0.9 million barrels last week but are about 7 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.