Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 1.8 million barrels during the week ending December 5, after adding a modest 600,000 barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The decrease brings commercial stockpiles to 425.7 million barrels according to government data, which is 4% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories fell by 4.8 million barrels. For total motor gasoline, the EIA reported that inventories had increased by 6.4 million barrels, on top of the 4.5 million barrel gain in the week prior. The most recent figures showed average daily gasoline production decreasing to 9.6 million barrels.