© Reuters.
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com — U.S. crude inventory increased by more than expected last week, the API reported Tuesday, but that did little to sap the momentum in oil prices amid easing fears about weakening demand.
, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $101.67 barrel following the report after settling up 3.2% at $101.70 per barrel.
rose by 4.8 million barrels for the week ended April. 21. That compared with a build of 4.5 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 2.2 million barrels.
The surge in oil prices on Tuesday comes as demand fears ease somewhat after China said it would support its economy as another lockdown potentially looms.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels last week, while distillate stocks increased by 431,000 barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. rose by about 2.0 million barrels last week.
