US oil inventories drop despite jump in domestic output, DoE says

US oil product stockpiles fell last week despite a sharp rise in the country's imports of crude and a large increase in domestic output.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the Department of Energy's statistical arm, over the week ending on 2 March crude oil inventories rose by 2.4m barrels versus the prior week to reach 425.9m barrels.

Gasoline stockpiles on the other hand shrank by 0.8m barrels while those of distillates decreased by 0.6m barrels.

In parallel, imports jumped by 721,000 barrels per day last week, with refineries running at 88.0% of capacity.

Meanwhile, total domestic US oil output rose by 86,000 b/d to hit 10.283m b/d, with the bulk of the increase being funelled towards export markets.

As of 1633 GMT, front month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were lower by 0.76% at $62.10 a barrel on the ICE.