Crude oil inventories have declined for the first time in 11 weeks as record shipments of crude oil to foreign markets made the United States a next exporter of petroleum products for the first time in nearly 70 years, according to a report in Fuel Fix.
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories declined by 7.3 million barrels last week, as revealed in a Thursday morning report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Despite the decrease, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories of 443.2 million barrels remain six percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
Part of the decline is attributed to record U.S. crude oil exports of 3.2 million barrels per day as domestically produced West Texas Intermediate crude oil trades at an $8 discount to Brent crude oil.
Gasoline inventories increased by 1.7 million barrels last week and are 4 percent above the five-year average for this time of year.
Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased last week by 8.3 million barrels last week.
The EIA’s inventory figures come at a time when OPEC members are meeting in Vienna and cannot reach a deal on productions cuts, which stoked fears of a global supply glut and drove crude oil prices down on Thursday morning.