By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly declined last week, the API reported Tuesday, though product inventories including gasoline fell sharply at a time when oil prices have been propped up by hopes of a jumbo output cut from major oil-producing nations.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $86.30 a barrel following the report after settling up 3.1% at $86.25 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 1.8 million barrels for the week ended Sept. 30. That compared with a build of 4.2 million barrels reported by the API in the previous week. Economists were expecting an increase of about 1.9 million barrels.
Oil prices have made a strong start to the week on optimism that OPEC+ may decide to cut output by as much as 2 million barrels to support prices.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 3.5 million barrels last week, and distillate stocks fell by 4.1 million barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies rose by 2.1 million barrels last week.