According to the Energy Information Administration’s latest weekly petroleum status report, crude oil inventories dropped 2.6 million barrels from the previous week. Storage levels across the country now total 428.3 million barrels. When compared to last March at this time, current domestic crude inventories are 104.8 million barrels lower. This year-over-year change could be attributed to higher than usual gasoline demand in the U.S. for this time of the year, which has also coincided with growing crude and gasoline exports from the U.S. This news will likely help drive up the cost of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude in the U.S. this week, which closed at $65.17/bbl Wednesday, even as domestic production continues to reach new record highs. The crude data also signal that OPEC’s production reduction agreement with other large producers helping to drain domestic crude supplies and lift the price per barrel.