New York, February 4 (QNA) - The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced a decline in US crude oil and distillate inventories, while gasoline inventories rose last week.

                The EIA, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy, stated in its report issued Wednesday that crude inventories fell by 3.5 million barrels to 420.3 million barrels last week, with oil production dropping to its lowest level since last November, compared to expectations of a 489,000-barrel increase.

                The report added that crude inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub fell by 743,000 barrels that week. Crude oil consumption at refineries also decreased by 180,000 barrels per day, and refinery utilization rates declined by 0.4 percentage points to 90.5 percent.

                Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicated that US gasoline inventories rose by 685,000 barrels to 257.9 million barrels, reaching their highest level since June 2020, compared to expectations of a 1.4-million-barrel increase.

                The data also showed that distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 5.6 million barrels last week to 127.4 million barrels, contrary to expectations of a 2.3-million-barrel decline.

                The EIA further noted that net US crude oil imports increased by 1.1 million barrels per day. (QNA)