The Energy Information Administration (EIA) haa reported that US crude inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels (mmbbl) in the week ending December 1st, reaching a total of 445 million barrels.

This was a larger drop than analysts had expected, with a Reuters poll predicting a 1.4-million-barrel decrease.

Meanwhile, the EIA also noted that crude runs at US oil refineries rose by 179,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) last week, while utilization rates increased by 0.7% to 90.5% of total capacity.

However, the crude stock figure was adjusted down by 2.7 mmbbl, which is the largest week-on-week drop in unaccounted barrels on record.

Moreover, the EIA reported that gasoline stocks rose by 5.4 mmbbl to 223.6 mmbbl, far exceeding expectations for a 1 mmbbl build.

“We’re finally beginning to see the impact of refiners returning from maintenance as crude oil inventories drew, but gasoline and distillate inventories were more than enough to offset the crude oil draw,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

The EIA also noted that products supplied with motor gasoline, their measure of demand, increased by 3% last week to 8.46 mmbbl/d. This is the first increase in demand in four weeks, but it still falls short of the 10-year seasonal average by 2.5%.

Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, also saw an increase of 1.3 mmbbl to 112 mmbbl. This was slightly lower than the forecasted 1.5 mmbbl rise.

Following the release of the storage report, both crude benchmarks extended their losses. Brent crude futures settled down $2.90, or 3.8%, at $74.30 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude futures fell by $2.94, or 4.1%, to $69.38 a barrel.

The EIA further reported that net US crude imports rose by 2.1 mmbbl/d, while crude production fell by 100,000 bbl/d to 13.1 mmbbl/d. This is the first weekly decline in production since July.

Additionally, crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for WTI rose by 1.8 mmbbl in the last week.