Crude oil prices moved lower today after the Energy Information Administration reported substantial fuel inventory builds for the week to December 29. In crude oil, the authority estimated an inventory decline of 5.5 million barrels for the last week of 2023. This compared with a weekly inventory draw of 6.9 million barrels for the previous week, when fuel inventories posted mixed inventory changes with gasoline stocks falling and middle distillate inventories swelling. Gasoline production averaged 8.8 million barrels daily last week, which compared with 10 million barrels daily. Middle distillate production averaged 5.1 million barrels daily in the final week of December, which compared with 5.1 million bpd for the previous week.
