US oil inventories fall again, remain near an 80-year high

US crude oil inventories fell again last week, at a slightly faster pace than the previous period.

Data from the Energy Information Administration released Thursday showed that commercial crude inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels in the week ended May 22.

Inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels in the prior week, which was a slowdown from the loss of 2.19 million barrels in the period before that.

This week's decline brought the total to 479.4 million barrels, maintaining inventories at the highest levels in at least 80 years.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading near a four-week low at around $56.60 following the data.