EIA: U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 5.8 million barrels last week

Statistics released by the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed that U.
S.
commercial crude inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 5.
8 million barrels
in the week ending Aug.
17.

The EIA's weekly oil status report showed that U.
S.
crude inventories totaled 408.
4 million barrels last week, at the five-year average
for this time of year.

U.
S.
refiners processed an average of 17.
9 million barrels of crude oil per day last week, down 89,000 barrels
a month on a daily basis, according to EIA statistics.
U.
S.
refinery utilization reached 98.
1%
last week.

EIA statistics also show that the United States imported an average of 7.
5 million barrels of crude oil per day last week, down about 1.
5 million barrels
a day from the previous month.
Over the past four weeks, the United States has imported an average of 8.
1 million barrels of crude oil per day, down 2.
2%
year-on-year.