The U.S. crude oil inventories report for the week ended 30 April showed a huge drop in stocks, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Inventories fell by 8 million barrels, which exceeded the expected drop of 1.9 million barrels. Crude oil stocks had added 100,000 barrels the previous week. In explaining the huge drop, the EIA report cited a jump in crude oil utilization by U.S. refineries inputs by about 225,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average, taking refining volumes to 15.2 million barrels per day. Imports also fell by 1.2 million barrels per day from the last week. ... (full story)