By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles fell much more than expected last week, though product inventories including gasoline increased, the API reported Tuesday.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $81.12 a barrel following the report after settling up 1.14% at $80.95 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.8M million barrels for the week ended Nov. 18. That compared with a draw of 5.8M barrels reported by the API for the previous week.
Economists were expecting a draw of 2.2M barrels.
API data also showed that gasoline inventories declined by about 400,000 barrels last week, and distillate stocks increased by 1.1M barrels.
Sentiment on oil prices is in the midst of a tug of war between concerns about slowing demand from China -- the world's top energy importer, following renewed Covid restrictions in major cities including Beijing -- and optimism that major oil producers will continue with plans to cut productions.
Saudi Arabia denied a Wall Street Journal report earlier this week that OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, were mulling a decision to boost production at upcoming Dec. 4, meeting.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies fell by about 1.1M barrels last week.