Paris: Commercial stocks of crude oil and petroleum products in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries decreased by 21.8 million barrels in March to 2.73 billion barrels, which is the lowest level since September 2022, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) report published on Tuesday.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the report highlighted that "OECD commercial inventories fell by 21.8 mb in February, less than the normal seasonal decline of 29 mb. After six consecutive months of draws, total stocks of 2,730 mb were at the lowest level since September 2022, covering 60.7 days of forward demand."

At the same time, global stocks of crude oil and petroleum products in March grew by 21.9 million barrels month-on-month to 7.647 billion barrels and remain at their five-year low, the agency added.