By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles jumped much more than expected last week, the API reported Tuesday, further weighing on oil prices just as ongoing Covid-19 restrictions in China continue to cast a shadow on the demand outlook.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $88.60 a barrel following the report after settling down 3.14% at $88.91 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 5.6 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 4. That compared with a draw of 6.5M barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 1.1M barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories rose by 2.5M barrels last week, and distillate stocks decreased by 1.7M barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies rose by about 1.4M barrels last week.