By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week, adding to investor concerns of a jump in global oil supplies amid growing expectations an Iran nuclear deal is near.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for U.S. crude prices, was down $0.98 a barrel to $65.30 on the news, after settling down $0.49 at $65.41 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 620,000 barrels for the week ended May 13, according to an estimate released Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute. That compared with a draw of 2.5 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week.
The API also showed that gasoline inventories fell by about 2.8 million last week, compared with a 5.6 million build in the prior week, and distillate stocks slipped by about 2.6 million barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 1.6 million barrels last week.
Traders on Tuesday digested conflicting reports on how close Iran is to securing a nuclear deal that could lift restrictions on the Islamic Republic and raise the prospect of Iranian crude exports.