Less than expected draw reported of U.S. crude oil inventories last week

HOUSTON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday reported less than expected draw in crude oil inventories and more than expected builds of oil products in the week ending Aug. 3.

According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 1.4 million barrels. The market's expectation was 3.1 million barrels of crude oil draw.

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 17.60 million barrels per day during the week ending Aug. 3, which was 118,000 barrels per day higher than the previous week's average. Refinery input was 24,000 barrels per day higher than the level of the same week of last year.

Over the past four weeks, refinery inputs averaged 17.40 million barrels per day, which was 0.3 percent higher than in the same four-week period of last year.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 7.93 million barrels per day last week, which was 182,000 barrels per day higher than the level of the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged 8.13 million barrels per day, 1.4 percent higher than in the same four-week period last year.

Large amounts of imports, despite higher U.S. crude oil production than in the previous year, were the major reason behind the less than expected crude oil draw in the commercial inventories.

U.S. crude oil exports averaged 1.85 million barrels per day last week, up by 540,000 barrels from the previous week.

The net imports are an important measure which is equal to imports deducted by the exports. The net imports averaged 6.08 million barrels per day last week, down by 358,000 barrels than in the previous week.

According to the EIA, U.S. crude oil production was 10.8 million barrels per day last week, or 100,000 barrels lower than the previous week's average.

Oil prices slumped on Wednesday as official data showed a smaller-than-anticipated drop in American crude stockpiles.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery dropped 2.23 U.S. dollars to settle at 66.94 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent Crude for October delivery lost 2.37 dollars to 72.28 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.