By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- U.S. crude stockpiles unexpectedly rose last week, the API reported Tuesday, but that did little to alleviate concerns about that the surge in oil prices are set to continue after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russia energy imports.
West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, traded at $124.53 barrel on the news, after settling up 3.6% at $123.70 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories increased by 2.8 million barrels for the week ended March. 2. That compared with a draw of 6 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a draw of about 833,000 barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 2.0 million barrels last week, and distillate stocks increased by 5.5 million barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies decreased by about 657,000 barrels last week.