Investing.com — U.S. crude stockpiles increased less than expected, the API reported Tuesday, pointing to a pick-up in demand following weeks of much stronger-than-expected increases..
, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $78.45 a barrel following the report after settling down 0.9% at $78.02 a barrel.
rose by about 423,000 barrels for the week ended Mar. 1, compared with a build of 8.4M barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 2.6M barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by about 2.8M barrels, and distillate stockpiles fell by 1.8M barrels, compared with expectations for a decline about 1.4M barrels and 400,000 barrels, respectively.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. increased by about 2.6M barrels last week.
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