U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Fall Much More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - After reporting an unexpected decrease by U.S. crude oil inventories in the previous week, the Energy Information Administration released a report on Wednesday showing another notable decline by crude oil inventories in the week ended May 30th.

The EIA said crude oil inventories slid by 4.3 million barrels last week after falling by 2.8 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to edge down by 0.9 million barrels.

At 436.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 7 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.

Meanwhile, the report said gasoline inventories surged by 5.2 million barrels last week but remain about 1 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also shot up by 4.2 million barrels last week but remain about 16 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.