Oil Production, Demand Drop Amid Energy Crisis in Texas
Crude oil production in the United States plummeted but so too did demand amid last week’s bitter freeze that caused an energy crisis in Texas. Stockpiles ticked up as a result, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) on Wednesday.
U.S. commercial crude inventories for the week ended Feb. 19, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), increased by 1.3 million bbl from the previous week. At 463.0 million bbl, stocks were on par with the five-year average for the comparable week, the agency said.