Crude oil inventories in the United States decreased by 9 million barrels during the week ending February 13, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Thursday. The decrease brings commercial stockpiles to 419.8 million barrels according to government data, which is 5% below the five-year average for this time of year. The EIA’s data release follows API’s figures that were released a day earlier, which reported that crude oil inventories fell by 609,000 barrels in the period. Crude prices…