Investing.com - Crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose 900,000 barrels at the end of last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said Tuesday, with gasoline stocks soaring 4.4 million barrels, widely missing an expected fall, and supplies of distillates down a less than expected 36,000 barrels.
A market survey expected a drop of 1.661 million barrels for crude, a decline of 1.073 million barrels for distillates and a 1.020 million barrels dip in gasoline.
The crude market has continued to see supply outpacing demand and the build in crude and gasoline stocks, and the less than expected drop in distillates, could hit sentiment hard.
The figures will be followed by official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EDT. There are often sharp divergences between the API estimates and the official figures from EIA.
Supplies at the Cushing, Oklahoma, oil storage hub fell by 1.97 million barrels for the third straight weekly decline, API said.