Oil Inventories rise 9.3M barrels last week in surprise swell: API

Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly swelled last week, the API reported Tuesday, belying the recent trend of larger declines fueled by the ongoing recovery in refinery activity.

Crude Oil WTI Futures, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $81.25 a barrel following the report after settling down 0.4% at $81.62 a barrel.

U.S. crude inventories increased by about 9.3 million barrels for the week ended Mar. 22, compared with a decline of 1.5M barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an decrease of about 1.2M barrels.

The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by about 4.4M barrels, and distillate stockpiles rose by 531,000 barrels.

The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies decreased by about 1M barrels last week.

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