"Crude stocks decrease by 4.5 million barrels."

Key Insights

• Crude stockpiles fell short of what analysts had anticipated.
• The production of domestic oil remained steady at 13.2 million barrels per day.
• The United States refrained from purchasing oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Crude inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels according to the EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report, missing analyst expectations that predicted a decrease of just 0.3 million barrels. This brings U.S. crude oil inventories to a level about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

The U.S. maintained its domestic oil production at 13.2 million barrels per day and did not make any oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, ultimately impacting the oil market.

Motor gasoline inventories decreased by 2.4 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories declined by 3.2 million barrels. Crude oil imports averaged 5.9 million barrels per day, showing a decrease of 387,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve remained constant at 351.3 million barrels per day, depicting a stance from the U.S. that it is not looking to make further oil purchases at current levels, which could potentially influence oil prices.

Despite recent increases in domestic oil production, currently holding steady at 13.2 million barrels per day, there is a focus on the stabilization of production levels above the significant mark of 13.0 million barrels per day.

Following the EIA report release, WTI oil is trading near the $88.00 level, while Brent oil has settled above the $91.00 level. Although the report offered some support to oil prices, traders remain mainly attentive to the escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Recent geopolitical events include Iran proposing an oil embargo on Israel without any planned OPEC action in response, leading to increased geopolitical uncertainty affecting the oil market.