The U.S.' crude oil inventories showed a strong increase last week, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, EDNews.net reports citing Anadolu Agency.
Commercial crude oil inventories rose by 15 million barrels, or 3%, to 518.6 million barrels for the week ending April 17, the EIA data showed.
The market expectation was an increase of 15.1 million barrels. Inventories rose by 19.2 million barrels during the previous week.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in the commercial crude stocks, remained unchanged at 635 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
Gasoline inventories also showed an increase of 1 million barrels, or 0.4%, to 263.2 million barrels over that period.
While the market expectation was an increase of 3.5 million barrels for gasoline stocks, they rose by 4.9 million barrels during the previous week.