By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - U.S. crude stockpiles rose less than expected last week, while a large draw at Cushing, Oklahoma, continued to point to tight supply at a time when fresh Covid-19 restrictions across Europe threatens to sap demand.
West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark traded at $79.72 barrel on the news, after settling down 12 cents at $80.76 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories increased by 655,000 barrels for the week ended Nov. 9. That compared with a draw of 2.5 million barrels reported by the API for the previous week. Economists were expecting a build of about 1.5 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing Oklahoma storage and delivery fell 2.8 million barrels.
The API data also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 491,000 barrels last week, and distillate stocks increased by 107,000 barrels.
The official government inventory report due Wednesday is expected to show weekly U.S. crude supplies increased by about 1.4 million barrels last week.