Domestic crude production held even last week as demand dipped slightly and inventories edged up, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday.

U.S. exploration and production (E&P) companies kept output for the week ended Oct. 21 at 12.0 million b/d, flat with the prior week and roughly in line with the level maintained through the fall, EIA said in its latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report.

E&Ps this year have tried to align production with demand that bounced back from the pandemic early this year. They raised production to a pandemic-era high of 12.2 million b/d at points in the summer but have scaled back modestly as demand has leveled off amid high energy prices, overall inflation and slowing economic activity in recent months.

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