On September 25, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly State of the Oil report. The report showed that crude oil inventories fell by 4.5 million barrels from the previous week, far exceeding analysts' expectations of a 1.4 million barrel decrease. Crude oil inventory levels are now about 5% below the five-year average.

Gasoline inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels, when analysts had expected stocks to be flat, while diesel stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels from last week.

Crude oil imports increased by 135,000 bpd to average 6.5 million bpd, compared to an average of 6.4 million bpd over the past four weeks.

Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 13.2 million b/d, with the hurricane season putting some pressure on domestic crude oil production to fall back below its annual high.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) increased to 381.9 million barrels from 380.6 million barrels as the U.S. continued to purchase crude oil to replenish the reserve.

The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gradually recovered on the back of the EIA report and is now attempting to break through the $71.00 mark. From a technical perspective, WTI oil prices are finishing below the resistance level of $72.00 to $72.50.

Brent oil prices stabilized around $74.50 following the release of EIA data, with traders concerned that China's stimulus measures have not been effective in boosting the country's oil demand.