U.S. oil stocks fell for the first time in four weeks as Americans shrugged off lofty prices and demand rose, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

EIA said crude inventories for the week ended Nov. 12, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), decreased by 2.1 million bbl from the previous week. At 433.0 million bbl, stocks are 7% below the five-year average.

Demand jumped 12% week/week, with travel fuel consumption down slightly but all other petroleum categories – from residual fuel oil to propane – posting solid gains, EIA reported in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

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U.S. oil refinery inputs...