Crude oil production in the United States plummeted but so too did demand amid last week’s bitter freeze that caused an energy crisis in Texas. Stockpiles ticked up as a result, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) on Wednesday.

U.S. commercial crude inventories for the week ended Feb. 19, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), increased by 1.3 million bbl from the previous week. At 463.0 million bbl, stocks were on par with the five-year average for the comparable week, the agency said.

Total petroleum stocks, excluding the SPR, fell 13.8 million bbl week/week and were in line with year-earlier levels.

Overall petroleum demand sunk 10% week/week and fell 6% from a year earlier.

Drops in...