The American Petroleum Institute said Tuesday that crude inventories jumped 11.6 million barrels at the end of last week, far more than the expected 1.66 million barrels build seen, while gasoline stocks dropped 5.0 million barrels, compared to a dip of 1.28 million barrels forecast.
Distillate supplies eased 2.9 million barrels, compared to a 880,000 barrels draw seen, while stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, oil hub rose by 800,000 barrels.
The figures will be followed on Wednesday by more closely-watched official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.