Oil reserves increased by 3.9 million barrels

(AFP) The country's commercial oil reserves increased last week, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Administration (EIA), a rise attributable in particular to a decline in exports.

During the week ending on Sept. 5, these inventories increased by 3.9 million barrels, while analysts had expected a decline of about 1.4 million barrels, according to a consensus median compiled by Bloomberg.

In total, excluding strategic reserves, inventories stood at 424.6 million barrels. The strategic reserve continued to rise, reaching 405.2 million barrels, its highest level since October 2022.

This increase in oil stocks is mainly due to a drop in exports compared to the previous period (-29.3%). Imports decreased slightly (-6.9%).

On the other hand, U.S. refineries worked last week at 94.9% of capacity (down from 94.3%). In theory, higher activity is likely to reduce crude inventories as they are more refined.

U.S. crude oil production increased slightly, to 13.49 million barrels per day, up from 13.42 million in the previous period.

With the end of the summer period, during which demand is usually high, the amount of product delivered to the U.S. market, an implicit indicator of demand, declined (-4.2%).

The demand for gasoline, a category that traders monitor closely, fell below the symbolic threshold of 9 million barrels per day (-6.7%).