(Updates to include additional details.)
US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 3 million barrels to 426.4 mmbbls in the week ended Sept. 18, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report released Wednesday.
Crude inventories are 2% above the five-year average, the EIA said. The build is significantly higher than Investing.com's estimate of a 700,000-bbl draw for the week ended Sept. 18.
US Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories dropped to 284.6 mmbbls in the week ended Sept. 18, down from 285 mmbbls a week earlier, marking a weekly decline of 400,000 barrels, EIA data showed.
Crude oil input to refineries decreased by 519,000 barrels per day from the previous week to average about 16.8 million b/d in the week ended Sept. 18. Crude oil production dropped by 5,000 b/d to 13.9 mmb/d.
Commercial crude imports dropped by 1.2 million b/d to average about 5.9 mmb/d. Total motor gasoline stockpiles dropped by 1.7 mmbbls from the previous week to 206 mmbbls, while distillate stocks decreased by 400,000 bbls to 107.4 mmbbls.