U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week, extending draws to a fourth straight week, according to the Energy Information Administration, as companies lowered stocks for end-year accounting purposes.
Domestic crude stocks dropped by 1.26 million barrels to 339.43 million barrels in the week to Dec. 24, the weekly report showed on Thursday, against expectations for a 2.6 million-barrel
draw.
Over the past four weeks, domestic crude stocks have fallen more than 20 million barrels, the biggest four-week decline since June 2008 when they dropped by 23.6 million barrels. U.S. oil companies traditionally draw down crude inventories at the end of the year for tax purposes, and it was the first consecutive four-week drop since last December.
The EIA data was delayed one day due to the Christmas holiday last week.
