EIA: US crude inventories register bigger-than-expected decline

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories dropped by 9.6 million barrels in the week ended June 23, putting stockpiles down for a second week in a row. 

That was much bigger than the 1.8 million barrel draw analysts forecast in a Reuters poll and compares with a decline of 2.8 million barrels in the same week last year and a five-year (2018-2022) average decrease of 7.8 million barrels.

It also compares with data on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group with its own U.S. inventory report, that showed energy firms pulled about 2.4 million barrels of crude out of storage last week, according to sources.