The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday
that crude inventories increased by
1.233 million barrels in the week
ended May 31, following a decline of 4.156 million barrels in the previous week.
Economists had forecast
a drop of 2.300 million barrels.
At the same
time, gasoline stocks surged by 2.102 million barrels, the
most since the week ended January 19 (+4.91 million barrels). Analysts had foreseen
a build of 1.950 million barrels. The previous week saw a climb of 2.022 million
barrels.
Elsewhere,
distillate stocks jumped by 3.197 million barrels, the most since the week ended January
5 (+6.530 million barrels). Analysts
had predicted an advance of 3.010 million barrels. The previous week saw a surge
of 2.544 million barrels.
Meanwhile, oil
production in the U.S. held
steady at 13.100 million barrels per day.
U.S. crude oil
imports averaged 7.1 million barrels per day last week, logging a gain of 289,000
barrels per day from the week before.