U.S. crude stockpiles plunge 10 mln bbls to lowest since March -EIA
U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by nearly 10 million barrels last week to their lowest since March, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
The unexpected 9.9 million-barrel fall, the biggest draw since July, reduced crude inventories to 476.7 million barrels, according to EIA figures. Analysts expectations in a Reuters poll were for a 430,000-barrel rise.
The decline was the result of a sharp falloff in imports and a 2.3 million-barrel drawdown in stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for crude futures.
Net U.S. crude imports fell by 2.1 million barrels per day, the EIA said.