U.S. Crude Oil Inventories Pull Back Much More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed a sharp pullback by U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended August 16th.

The EIA said crude oil inventories tumbled by 4.6 million barrels last week after rising by 1.4 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 2.8 million barrels.

At 426.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA added.

The report said motor gasoline inventories also fell by 1.6 million barrels last week and are about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.

Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also slumped by 3.3 million barrels last week and are about 10 percent below the five-year average for this time of year.